Solace Kids 1- Echo's Light
by FreeformFay72
Summary: Will and Nico are the fathers of four kids, and Echo is just the oldest. See their life from her point of view as she enters the hardest years for any half-blood or legacy, and watch as Nico and Will navigate the hardest part of parenting: Letting go. Part 2 of Solangelo Family Adventures
1. Beginnings

Echo caught her little brother by the belt-loop on his pants, "Declan, come on. Papa says we're going to Uncle Leo and Aunt Calypso's for a party."

"I don't wanna go!" Her brother tried to pull away, digging his feet into the carpet.

"Come on, Dec, we'll see our cousins, Patrick and Sammy, and you know Gareth will do one of his magic tricks!" Echo tried to catch the small boy's interest.

"But it's going to be loud and we'll be there for forever!"

Echo sighed, "Look, if you get too overwhelmed, I will tell Papa and Dad that I will take you home." She offered, mentally kicking herself for doing it. She barely got to see the friends who understood her life as it was. Now she was giving away more of her time?

Declan looked back at her, "Promise?"

"As surely as the sun rises in the east." She held her free hand out to him.

He sighed and took it, "I love you, Echo."

She smiled, "Love you too, now come on. Everyone else is ready."

"Even Dad?"

"Well, maybe not Dad. But he did just get home a little while ago." She led the way out, starting to hum with excitement. She grinned triumphantly at her Papa, "Look who agreed to come."

Her Papa smiled, "Thank you, Echo. Declan, do you think you could carry this dish?"

Declan nodded excitedly and held out his arms.

"Alright, don't drop it." Papa told him, still smiling, and rested the dish in Declan's arms.

Declan nodded gravely, then walked over by the front door, ready to go.

Echo sat next to her Papa, "Are we just waiting for Daddy?"

"And Ana, she had some sort of clothing emergency or something." Papa tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear, "You look nice."

She grinned, "Thanks, I'm really excited to see everyone. Aunt Hazel, Uncle Frank…"

"Me too, it's been a while. Almost a year. Normally I get out to visit more, but with the illustrating job I was working on…" He shrugged.

Echo liked having young parents. Sure, most of her friends parents were young, but her fathers weren't even in their forties yet. They still had energy and they still could play games and get rowdy with their kids. Sure, part of that was also because if they let their guard down and their muscles go, they could die, but still. She liked that they could still take care of her.

"Echo? I've repeated your name like eight times and you just heard me." Her papa was chuckling.

"Sorry, Papa, I was thinking about how lucky we are to have such young parents."

Her papa laughed, "Oh man, you are such an innocent suck-up."

She tilted her head, "Papa?"

He laughed more, "Will, tell me you're ready!"

"I will be when I can find my shoes!"

"Check my closet, I was vacuuming earlier."

"Papa, what do you mean sucking up?" Echo was a little concerned.

"Trying to butter me up." He tried to explain.

She shrugged.

"Trying to earn brownie points." He used a phrase her Aunt Cassie (why did she call all of these people her aunts and uncles?) would use.

"Oh, I'm not. I just, that's what I was thinking…" She frowned at her hands. "Papa, sometimes I feel hopelessly awkward and idiotic."

He looked a little concerned, "Why?"

Aurora snorted, "She just remembered the part where you said, 'innocent' before the sucking up bit that she got stuck on. Even I know what sucking up is."

Echo stuck her tongue out at her raven-haired sister.

Aurora stuck her tongue out in return, "ANA! Come on! You too, Dad!"

Papa ran a hand through his hair, "Indoor voice, Rory. You don't talk to either of us like that."

Rory nodded, "Yes, Papa." Then she hopped up and went marching off to the room she shared with Ana, "You look fine. I look fine, we all look fine. Now please get your narcissistic butt out of the bedroom so we can go!"

"Please tell me she's talking to Ana?" Papa looked about done, unable to decide how to react.

"Well, she passed me on her way to the bedroom and Ana's firing back some sort of retort, so I'm going to say that's a safe bet." Dad came out, looking like he had just showered.

Echo hopped up to get her hug, "We really should get going. Before Declan's arms get tired."

"I'm fine." Declan piped up.

Dad grinned at both of them.

Then they heard a shriek.

"Don't open the door!"

"Why? You're fully clothed!"

Echo groaned and dropped her head to her Dad's shoulder, "Every day. Why does this happen every day?"

Her Dad hugged her tightly, "Remember, you're the angel of the family. Please don't change that."

"I thought Papa was the angel?" Echo glanced between her fathers.

Her Dad grinned at her Papa, "He is, the angel of death. So, Angel, let's go discipline our troublemakers, shall we?"

"Don't call me that." Papa said through a grimace and gritted teeth.

"Better sit down, Dec. This could take a while." Echo said, sitting at the piano and starting to play. She had surpassed her Dad's ability when she was six, and had been taking lessons from someone else since. Normally she practiced while her Papa made dinner, but this worked. Might as well. She wasn't exactly going to the party.

Unless they let her go ahead with Declan, which was unlikely. They were a little overprotective. They always seemed to forget that they had been teaching her how to sword fight since she was seven and was first attacked by a monster. And she was pretty good with a bow, too.

But if the monsters didn't head right for the twins, then they headed for Declan.

Sometimes they would completely ignore her. But she always knew when Declan was in danger. She would get this wrenching feeling in her gut. And Declan was a little slow ever since the accident four years ago, after the accident that he had been in with their Dad. Her family didn't talk about it, but he had trouble in school, keeping up mentally. They had had to pull him out and Papa was teaching him there. Echo worried that her brother wouldn't be able to react fast enough to keep himself alive. She knew their fathers worried too, and her Dad definitely blamed himself.

The twins had no trouble with this. Well, Aurora had no trouble with it. She was something of a tom-boy, kind of liked the gruesome and scary stuff like their Papa did. Ana just needed to pay attention.

"Echo, we're ready to go."

She closed the lid over the keys, "Then let's go." She noticed that Ana looked a little flushed, and that Aurora had an angry glint in her eyes.

Her Papa looked ready to throttle someone.

Daddy kissed her cheek, "You get better every day, little Lark."

She smiled, "Thanks, Daddy."

They all headed outside, Declan leading the way when, excitedly insisting that he could lead them to the Valdez' house.

"Alright, we're off!" Dec marched down to the sidewalk.

Even the twins were giggling over his confident stride.

Then he stopped, he looked both ways that the sidewalk led, slowly looking confused. "Um…"

The twins stepped closer together, and Papa grabbed Dad's hand as it started to shake.

Echo quickly stepped forward, bending down next to him, "You right, we should be careful. You never know when the villains will attack! We must be careful if we're to get to the secret base!" She pointed toward the Valdez' house.

"Right!" He grinned.

"So, do we cross the river first, or push our way through the dense jungle?" she took the dish from him and handed it to her Dad.

"Over the river!" He took her hand, "We have to jump from stone to stone!"

"Alright, hold on tight!"

They 'hopped' from stone to stone, trying not to fall into the river, which was really the road.

Then, once their whole family had safely crossed the 'river', Declan and Echo led the way through the woods.

Declan cheered when they reached the Valdez' house, then hugged Echo.

Ana and Rory took him inside.

Echo turned to her fathers, "He's getting worse, isn't he?"

Dad looked heartbroken, guilty.

Papa just took her hand in his other, "He has an appointment on Monday."

She nodded.

"Thank you, for helping him." Papa pulled her closer so he could put an arm around her. "Now, we should go have some fun and some food."

"Yes, Papa."


	2. Memory

Uncle Leo knew how to cook, really well. Not that Papa didn't, Echo loved her Papa's cooking, but Uncle Leo's food was always top notch.

But the best part about the Valdez house was Gareth Valdez, Leo and Calypso's son. He was about a year older than her, maybe a little more, and hot. Like, he got the best of both of his parents, somebody give him a freaking modeling job.

Her dad joked that puberty would probably hit the kid like a truck.

Echo didn't think it was possible for anything to make Gar less handsome. He was funny, too.

He also treated her and her siblings like they were his siblings, since he only had Maggie, who was five years old and nine years younger than him. He doted on her, but he like hanging out with Echo and her siblings too, since they were a little close to him in age.

Echo knew she was being ridiculous, she was twelve, he was fourteen, he was unattainable. Not to mention she wasn't even allowed to date until she was sixteen and by then, he would be leaving for college.

"Echo? Hey, oh my gosh, it's been so long!" Melina Jackson gave Echo a hug, "How are you?"

Echo grinned, "I'm good, how are you?"

"I am so ready for summer! I can't wait for camp. It has a real beach and I can get some real practice in without my Dad worrying that he's going to hurt me." She rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Dad, I've been training since I could lift a weapon and attacked by monsters since before then."

"Oh, you too? So it's not just my parents."

"Definitely not. Even Leo is a little protective of Gar. They're our parents, it's their job to worry about us. So, are you coming to camp this summer?" Melina asked, looking hopeful. That was one of the things Echo loved most about the older girl, she didn't care about ages.

"I wish. Dad used to say that they would let me go when I was twelve, saying it was the age normal demigods would go to camp. But…" Echo sighed, "My brother is getting worse, and I have a feeling that they're going to need me to be home to help with the twins. There's always next summer."

Melina's eyes held understanding, "I know it's been hard. I'm sure they really appreciate having a sweetheart like you."

Echo smiled and rolled her eyes, "You're teasing me."

"Get used to it, I don't have sisters. Ooh, it's Tali!" She waved.

Talia Grace came over, she had turquoise streaks in her brown hair this time, "Oh my gosh, that car ride never ended!" She hugged Mel, then Echo.

"It wasn't that bad." Her brother, Felix, objected. He was the same age as Echo, but quiet. When he was around, he normally hung out with Melina's little brother, Nolan.

Talia rolled her eyes, "Maybe because you weren't the only girl aside from the mothers in the van."

"Awe, you love us and you know it!" Sammy grinned at Talia, then hugged Echo tightly, "Hey, little cousin. How's everything in Echo valley?"

Echo rolled her eyes, "Fine. How's everything in Sammy land?"

"Sweet, I finally mastered that double feint." He ruffled her hair and then looked around, "Where are my other cousins?"

Echo pointed, "Rory is talking with Nolan, Ana is probably checking her reflection in a mirror somewhere and Declan—"

"Echo!" He appeared and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" She asked, peeling him off.

He looked up at her, he looked scared and confused and overwhelmed.

Mel put a hand on her shoulder, "Why don't we take him out front, it's quieter."

Echo nodded, glad her friend could see that something was wrong. And that Mel had the idea of going somewhere quiet.

They went up front, guiding a shaky Declan.

He kept glancing up at her, as if to make sure she was still there.

She kept squeezing his hand to reassure him that she was.

Finally, they were out front, in the quiet open air.

Mel said she would keep watch for monsters and went a little ways away.

"What's wrong, Declan?" Echo asked in a calm, soothing voice, imitating Dad when he was treating their cuts. She gently stroked his cheek.

He started crying, "I don't know! I can't remember! There's too much!"

She shushed, and pulled him into her arms. She didn't know what to say to him. How to comfort him. She didn't even know what was wrong. Well, she had an idea about what was wrong and what caused it, but nothing was they saw the tests, nothing was certain. "It's okay, just take a breath and try to tell me."

He pulled away, rubbing his eyes, "I was with Ana, and then I wasn't and I don't know where we are!"

Echo felt like she would cry, "Shh, shh, it's okay. You're 're at Uncle Leo's. I'm right here." She pushed his hair out of his eyes, meeting them. She could see how terrified he was, how much he was trusting her. Her quiet, thoughtful little brother, was looking at her as if she was the only line to his whole world.

"Uncle Leo's?" He asked, glancing toward the house, he still looked confused.

"Yeah, we're just down the road from home." She rubbed his arm, trying to comfort him.

He looked up at her, gaze somewhat blank, "I…don't…"

Echo gave him a smile, "It's okay, we'll just find Papa and I'll take you home, okay?"

He nodded, sniffling. He held on tightly to her hand.

"Mel, we're heading back."

Melina nodded, following them back through.

They found Dad first, and he looked at them both with concern when she said she was taking him home. "You feeling alright?"

"Declan got a little confused, I think it's best if I take him home. Don't worry, it's not that far." Echo told him, holding Declan in front of her while some people passed by.

Dec pressed back against her leg, and her Dad's. He looked terrified.

Dad looked down at Dec, then at her, then out into the crowd, "At least let me walk you home."

"I've already volunteered for that, Mr. Solace." Gareth appeared at Echo's elbow. "Your husband said the kids could go and hang out in your yard, since everyone's already eaten."

Almost everyone, Echo sighed to herself.

Dad nodded slowly, "Alright, just…"

"I'll keep an eye on Dec, promise, Dad." She kissed his cheek.

"And we're taking the extra snacks so that we don't have to raid your kitchen." Gareth held up a dish, winking at Echo.

Dad nodded again, giving Echo a hug, then hugging Declan, kissing the boy's forehead.

Echo led Declan back out front, where their siblings were waiting with their cousins, and friends. She realized quickly that Mel had been behind this, especially when she realized that Gareth had two dishes, one of which had the regular food for Echo.

And when Papa appeared to give her a few instructions, and to make sure Declan was at least mostly okay. He then thanked her for offering to take him home. He knew how much she had been looking forward to today. That was probably why he had allowed the other kids to go to their house to hang out.

She loved him for it.

They made the short walk home, Ana and Aurora trying to cheer Declan up.

Their friends kept their talk to a minimum, obviously having been warned to be a little quieter than normal.

Echo could kiss Mel for thinking to threaten them.

When they got to the house, the twins led the way to the backyard with most of them, while Echo took Declan, followed by Gareth and Melina, into the house.

"Just put the food in the kitchen," Echo said softly, then gently led Declan to his room.

He still seemed confused. He didn't seem to recognize their home, and it hadn't changed since Echo was little. Like, since she was four. Their fathers only redecorated because they had to do fix up the nursery for Declan, and…Echo had a vague memory of finger-painting on the walls that she was pretty sure had led to them repainting the hallway, living room and kitchen. Either way, the house hadn't changed since Declan was practically a newborn, but he didn't seem to recognize it.

"Echo?"

"It's okay, I'm right here." She said in a soothing voice, then started humming just so he would know that she was still with him. She guided him to his bed, and sat on it with him.

"This is my room?"

She did her best to hide her fear, "Yeah, it is. Papa painted that for you before you were born." She gestured to the mural. Hers was a sunny ocean view, with a bluebird. Declan's was a serene forest, with a couple deer and other animals. The twins had murals on opposite walls of dawn and dusk over mountains.

Declan looked at it really hard, then pointed to the turtle on a log, "I called him Fred."

She grinned, "Yeah, you did."

He slowly nodded, blinking, and looking around, then looked up at her, "How did I forget that this was my room?"

She shrugged, "Sometimes things happen that we can't explain. You hungry?"

He nodded, "Please don't make me eat the tacos."

She laughed, "I'll heat some leftovers up for you. Though you know that Uncle Leo's tacos are the best."

"They're too spicy."

She kissed his cheek and led the way back out. She was just glad that he remembered now. She didn't care if he decided Taco's were the worst food in the world, whatever was wrong had passed at least for the moment. She just hoped that whatever it was, it was fixable.


	3. Friends

Nolan made room for her at the table, giving her his seat since she had food.

Rory looked meaningfully at her, her gaze hard and questioning.

Echo gestured that everything was more or less fine.

Rory nodded sharply, then went back to listening and mocking Sammy, in a good-natured way.

Echo found herself listening to Mercury Stoll, James Pace, Nolan Jackson, and Melina as they talked about their friends from camp.

It was the turn that Nolan took it on that caught her interest, though.

"Hey, Merc, wasn't your Uncle Travis supposed to come today? With your cousin?" He asked, leaning against his sister's chair. He had his Dad's laid back vibe, but his mom's intense gray eyes and blonde hair. Melina mostly had the laid-back vibe as well, but sometimes she had such an intensity to her that it made everyone around her try harder.

Mercury was thin as a toothpick, and while he had spent most of his life shorter than Echo (which was saying something since she wasn't exactly tall) he was finally starting to stretch out and shoot up. He was just a smidge taller than her now. But right now, he seemed to shrink as he sighed, "He was supposed to. But Riley got hurt a while back, and has to have surgery on his knee. He had it last night, he's okay, but Uncle Travis thought it might be a little much."

"It's been forever since I've seen him, I don't think I would remember what he looked like if it wasn't for your dad." Echo said, shaking her head.

Mercury looked a little troubled, "Well, from what I hear, Uncle Travis doesn't like coming to Westfield very much."

"Oh no, what did Papa do?" Echo took a bite of the enchilada, dreading what her fathers could have done.

Thankfully, Mercury laughed, "Nothing of consequence. No, it was more because he married Riley's mom here, and a lot of his life with her had been here. He couldn't bear the reminders and wanted to be able to focus on Riley, that's why he moved back to Michigan." He shrugged.

"I remember that time." Melina said softly, frowning at the table. "Megara, wasn't it?"

Mercury nodded, "I think so."

Aunt Meggie. Echo closed her eyes a moment, barely able to picture the woman, and only then because of the photos in the album her fathers rarely brought down from the top shelf. "She…she was the one…" Echo stopped herself, realizing that it was kind of awkward.

Mercury nodded a bit, "Yeah, your mother, technically."

"Genetically, too. Technically." James pointed out.

Nolan and Melina nodded.

Echo shook her head, "I don't really remember her."

"Neither do I and she was my aunt." Mercury said, shaking his head, "We have pictures, and Dad will tell me about her if I ask enough questions. Usually to shut me up so that I won't ask Uncle Travis. Apparently Riley has started asking the questions, though."

"Yikes, that's hard." Melina shook her head.

"How do you know?" Nolan teased his sister.

"Because I remember the looks on our parents faces when I kept asking them about my little sister." Mel almost snapped.

Echo winced. She did remember that funeral. She had gone home and not let her siblings out of her sight. And Dad and Papa had let them all sleep in bed with them. That had been six years ago.

Nolan's gaze dropped.

James cleared his throat, "Not that this conversation is totally light and fluffy, it isn't, but can I just say that I love when we get together because we can talk about the things our parents never want to talk about."

"Like how two guys a baby cannot make?" Echo shook her head, remembering the awkward conversation that she had had with her fathers about puberty (begging all the gods to please make it stop) and the human body (Stop! Not move on to something more awkward!) and then the burning question in her mind as she tried to figure out how the heck she existed and actually saying it out loud for the first time at school when they had to write something on mother's day and then share with the class.

Her teacher had been clueless about the situation.

Echo had gone up, the piece of paper in her hands with her writing and looked at her class and said, "I have no idea what a mother is like, I have two fathers. I'm not sure how I exist, because…I thought you needed a girl and boy to make a baby, but…here I am. And I have siblings! So if I have a mother…is it one of my fathers?"

She had been sent to the principals office, the teacher taking it as a joke since the whole class was laughing at Echo. And lucky her, the clueless secretary was working and the vice-principal had no clue as well and requested a meeting with her teacher and her parents.

So both of her fathers had shown up after school, Daddy still partially in scrubs and Papa with paint on his T-shirt and jeans, and they went into a very awkward meeting where the teacher ended up asking Echo to repeat what she had said to the whole class.

She also remembered her Daddy looking at Papa and saying, "I thought you said you would tell her?"

James grinned at her, "Exactly."

Even Mel was smiling again, "Or when things are actually wrong with our siblings. Like seriously, why do none of the adults think we can't see that Valerie has some serious anxiety issues? Do they not realize that if we weren't aware of these things that we could exacerbate the situation?"

Echo shook her head, glancing over at the now her brothers were running interference. "She probably got her Mom's abilities."

Mel nodded a bit, "Max seems to think so."

Maximus Temple, Valerie's older brother and Reyna and Eric's oldest child, was a lot like his Dad. He was protective, amiable, and just generally well-liked. He also had a knack for diffusing intense situations and putting a stop to fighting. They still weren't sure if he had any abilities from his mother, but it didn't matter to him.

"Or when things are going really bad and they try to hide it, but they really can't. But we have no problem talking about it." Mercury added, shaking his head. "Think they'll ever trust us to be part of those conversations?"

"I'm two years older and I'm still not part of those conversations." Mel rolled her eyes.

Nolan looked at Echo, "So, speaking of things being wrong, what's wrong with Declan?"

Echo sighed, "I wish I knew. Ever since the accident he's been showing the signs of the brain damage that the doctors said. That wasn't too bad, he just needed special attention, and a slower working pace. He seemed fine other than being a little slow, but a couple month ago he started getting…confused. He would forget things, where he was, what he was doing, sometimes he would forget things like who Papa was, or sometimes the twins. He'd get scared, because he usually knew that he couldn't remember and that he should. Today is the worst it's been. He couldn't remember how to get to the Valdez' house. We go there almost every other day. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he grabbed onto me because I was the only person he recognized. Sometimes when he forgets, for some reason he can only remember me and Dad. Papa thinks it's because Dad was in the car and because I spent a lot of time with Declan while he was in the hospital. But so did Papa, and…" Echo made a vague gesture and let her hand drop back to her lap.

"I thought you were in the vehicle too?" James said, frowning.

She blinked, "Yeah, that's the part I tend to forget because I don't remember remember getting into the car or anything after that until waking up in the hospital." Thankfully that was the only thing she had been forgetting.

"I can't imagine Will would put off Declan getting tested." Mel said, giving me an inquisitive look.

I shook my head, "Tests are being done on Monday. Hopefully, whatever is wrong is easy to fix."

Melina nodded, "Well, I'll pray to some gods for him."

"Thanks, Mel." Echo heard a shout from over in the yard, and turned to look.

Everyone had frozen.

Echo got up, "Um, what happened?"

Ana turned around, "Rory just disappeared."

Echo's heart dropped to her stomach, "What!?"

"In the shadows, she disappeared!"

Echo vaguely remembered a chuckled memory from her Papa about his first time shadow traveling and ending up in China. "I'll be right back. Ana, watch Declan." She made sure her knife was ready, just in case, and ran out of the backyard and down to the Valdez house. She darted through the front door and out the back.

"Papa, Aurora just shadow traveled to who knows where." She called out, finally spotting him and Dad amongst the seated adults.

Papa's eyes widened, and he swore in Italian, "I better go see if my father has any ideas where to start looking." He gave Dad a kiss and then melted into the shadows himself.

Echo stood there awkwardly, then slowly backed up.

Dad came over, "I better come with you, Ana's probably freaking out."

"We all are." Echo said, her voice sort of monotone.

He hugged her, then went with her back to the house. Mel had managed to keep everyone quiet at least, though Ana looked ready to scream.

Dad talked to her softly, telling her that everything would be alright and that Papa would find Rory.

Gareth put a brotherly arm around Echo's shoulders, "You okay? I know how much of a mother hen you are."

She sighed, "It was only a matter of time before one of them showed what gifts they got."

"What about you?" He asked, squeezed her shoulders gently.

She shrugged, "Dad seems to think the music is my gift.I'm not particularly good at healing or archery."

"What about your mom's gifts?" He asked, his voice hesitant.

"I don't even know what they were. They don't talk about her. They were too close to her, I guess, but they've never seemed to think that our mother's abilities would show up. Maybe they've just forgotten. Or they think that the Apollo bit will overpower her parent's. Or none of us have exhibited any behaviors that would make them assume we inherited her abilities."

"What about the fact that Ana totally guessed that Mrs. Stoll is pregnant again?" Gareth whispered.

Echo frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Earlier when we were at my house, Ana looked at Mrs. Stoll and said congratulations on the baby. Mrs. Stoll looked at her in complete shock and asked how she knew because she hadn't even told her husband yet. She had wanted to wait until she was closer to her second trimester because of…"

The miscarriages. Ever since Mercury had been born (two months early, no less) Connor and Katie had been trying to conceive again, but to no avail. From what Echo had heard, they had stopped trying. Echo knew that Mercury tried his hardest to be the best son possible ever since he found out, working hard to get all A's in school and things like that.

"Anyway, Ana had just shrugged and said she had just sort of known."

Echo leaned her head against his shoulder, glad he was her friend if nothing else. She needed someone to lean on. "What about you, any godly gifts?"

"Well, they're the spontaneous combustion thing. But…also…" He seemed a little hesitant, "You can't tell them."

"I won't." Echo said automatically, "Unless your life is in dangers."

He nodded, "Fair enough. I, um, started learning magic last summer. And I'm getting pretty good at it."

Echo felt surprised, but also not surprised. "Maybe the little bit of Titan still left in your mom passed to you." She suggested.

He squeezed her shoulders again, "Don't know, but I'm really excited because it means I can be more than a legacy of Hephaestus. Not that machines aren't great. I've still got a bit of a mind for that too, not as good as full children of Hephaestus and definitely not as good as Dad, but I can get by. I just…I want to be able to explore it a bit before mom starts giving me pointers and dad starts cracking jokes."

"I get it," Echo wished she had some sort of ability. Her music was good, and she was good at it. But it wasn't a gift. She had to work at it.

And now both of her sisters were starting to demonstrate abilities…

Sometimes Echo hated being the oldest daughter.


	4. Mother

Papa found Aurora a day later, in Venezuela. He brought her home, and she seemed fine enough. A little groggy.

Dad still gave her a full check up before releasing her to Ana who then tortured Aurora by hugging her constantly and not letting her twin out of her sight.

Aurora ended up accidentally giving Anastasia a black eye while trying to get free to use the bathroom.

Papa had just shook his head and collapsed on the couch, turning up the volume on the cartoon Declan was watching.

Thankfully, the next day was Saturday.

Echo was the first one up, as usual. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair, then went to her fathers' room and knocked softly, when there wasn't an answer, she went in and woke her Papa. "Hey, it's Saturday." She told him as he gave her that same zombie look.

He nodded, "Be out in a couple minutes."

She nodded and when he dropped back onto the pillow, she grabbed his alarm clock and set it for five minutes before heading out and getting out the ingredients for their traditional Saturday breakfast of omelets with ham, cheese, and hash-browns. Hers and Dad's would also have onions.

Papa came out with a slight glare, "How do we always manage the same routine every Saturday? You'd think I'd be used to the alarm going off after you've tried waking me once, but I'm always alarmed." He pulled her into a hug, sort of leaning on her for a bit as he continued to wake up. "You look so much like your Dad."

Every Saturday.

Echo grinned and squeezed her Papa, but said something she had never said before, "Yeah, but I didn't get any of his gifts." She pulled away and started cracking eggs.

Her Papa didn't move.

She glanced over and saw that his face was troubled, worried, as he gazed at her, suddenly awake.

"Echo…"

"Relax Papa. Abilities aren't everything. I'm still a sweet girl and whoever I end up with will be a lucky person. I'm beautiful and don't I forget it." She continued cracking eggs. Normally the words meant something to her. What was so different about today?

Papa turned her toward him, searching her face, still worried. He shook his head, "Wash your hands, I'll put the eggs back in the fridge. Go wait for me on the couch."

She blinked, worried that this was going to turn into one of those lectures that made her cry and wish she had never spoken. Or that was super awkward, like when she started her first period. She washed her hands and went into the living room to sit on the couch.

Papa came in and went right to the bookshelf, "How much have we told you about your birth?"

"Um, you hired a surrogate, a half-blood. She gave birth to me and gave me to you and Dad. Aunt Meggie."

He sighed, grabbing the photo album off the top shelf. "I wish everything had been that simple." He muttered.

Wait, it was THE photo album. The one with pictures of their surrogate mother. The one they never brought out.

"Her name at the time was Megara Payne. She was my age, twenty-three, when we met. Through Cassie, when she was pregnant with James." Papa started, sitting and wrapping an arm around her. "Your Dad and I couldn't adopt because I have a record. Life of a halfblood, you know. Anyways, Megara was our last hope for kids. And she said she would do it." He opened the photo album to the first page, which had a picture of Aunt Meggie, grinning at the camera, probably close to six months pregnant. Echo felt a couple vague memories trying to resurface, but she also couldn't help but notice the similarities between herself and the woman in the picture. Like Echo's nose, and face shape. But mostly Echo could see the twins, especially Anastasia with her paler blonde hair and paler blue eyes.

"This was when she was about four months pregnant with the twins." Papa said softly, sighing, "But you were the first were so excited for you." He flipped the page to a picture of her fathers with Aunt Meggie, holding a sign that said "It's a girl!" Aunt Meggie had shorter hair in this one, a pixie cut, and wasn't nearly as pregnant as she had been in the first photo. There were other photos on these pages as well. Echo had a vague feeling that her Fathers had become very close friends with Megara. Especially her Papa, since he was in so many photos with her.

"She was like another sister to me. And she died. Has four kids for us, one for her husband and…died." Papa sounded torn.

Echo wasn't sure what all this had to do with her, but she wasn't about to stop him from talking about something she had wondered about for at least two years. This was her mother…

"She ended up living with us for about six months because her apartment building had a fire. We took care of her, and tried to make her comfortable and everything because she was carrying you. She was giving us you. She taught me how to cook better, and we talked about books and life. She had been through so much, and she was still such a good person." He flipped the page, pointing to one of Aunt Meggie holding a baby. "She picked out your middle name, you know."

"Is…that me?" There was another with her, the baby, and both men. They were all grinning, well, except for the baby.

"Yeah, you were the light of our lives." Papa rested his head on top of hers. "I was so excited to be having a little girl, and Echo…you surpassed my fondest dreams. I used to imagine having our little girl running up to Will when he got home, grinning and hugging him tightly. Him teaching her how to play piano. Me teaching her Italian."

Those were all things that had she surpassed his dreams?

"But I never thought about how you would interact with your siblings. You're such a blessing for me and your father. Watching out for them, helping us with them, helping them with homework…you have one of the kindest hearts I've ever come across, and I've come across my fair share. I still can't believe I had a hand in raising you." He chuckled, pointing to a picture of her sitting at the Piano with her Dad, which was next to a picture of her and her Papa covered in flour and grinning on the floor, both of which sat in a frame on the entertainment center. "You're special, Echo. You were our first miracle. And I think you'll do amazing things, and that you'll help a lot of people. Because you are kind, caring, compassionate, gentle, and you can brighten any day." He kissed her temple.

She smiled and cuddled up to her Papa.

Dad came in and sat on her other side, "It is that day, isn't it." He said softly, looking at the photo album.

Echo looked up at him as he shifted so that he was holding her as well. "What day?"

He smiled at her, and brushed her cheek, "Almost thirteen years ago. The day we found out we would be getting you. It was one of the best days of my life."

"Our life." Papa corrected, giving Dad a soft glare.

Dad just grinned at him, "You brought new life to us, before you were even born. Your Papa was getting bored with me."

Papa rolled his eyes, "Right, that's why we were—"

Dad cleared his throat, "Age appropriate conversation, Nico."

Papa shook his head at Dad, "I was not getting bored with you. I was worried about you. Your Dad was moping for weeks before he finally told me that he wanted kids. The day before I met Megara, actually. And the day before we signed a contract making her our surrogate."

Echo shook her head, "That's crazy, you met her and signed a contract for her to be your surrogate on the same day? What if she had turned out to be some sort of—"

"She wasn't." Dad interrupted, taking her hand, "You're right, it was crazy. But Megara was Cassie's midwife at the time. Cassie knew her pretty well. And…"

"We were desperate. It was the only path open to us, it wasn't as if we paid her a ton of money. Honestly, she was a godsend. And we found out later that Leo knew of her, and that she had been Annabeth's midwife when she was pregnant with Nolan. The only other people she had been a surrogate for were close friends. But she went to camp. She was a daughter of Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth and midwifery. It…was fate." Papa gently stroked Echo's cheek. He then flipped the page.

"So…there are other kids out there that she was the mother of?"

Dad laughed softly, "Yeah, your siblings and Riley Stoll. The others were a little different."

"Something I don't want to know about?" Echo made a face,realizing it must be one of those adult things that she was better off not being weirded out about.

Her fathers nodded.

"Okay, moving on…didn't it…bug her? Giving us to you?"

Papa nodded slowly, "Yes and no. She was sad, but she had known that should would be. And we had dinner with her almost every Thursday, so she could see all of you growing. But she couldn't have a hand in raising you guys."

"Why?" Echo frowned at the picture of Aunt Meggie with her and all of her siblings, even a little baby Declan.

"Because she had been told that she would be able to have kids of her own, but that she would never raise them. She would die." Papa said, his voice sounded fragile. Raw.

"But…Riley…"

"She died a couple weeks after Riley's first birthday. They were passing through Ohio on their way to Minnesota for his business trip, they stopped for the night. She went to a convenience store and…" Papa's voice broke, and his eyes closed.

"A trucker fell asleep at the wheel, plowed into the store. Last thing she did was push a kid out of harms way." Dad finished, flipping the page. A wedding photo of Megara and Travis with Echo as their flower girl. Echo was probably two.

But her head was reeling. "That's…how exactly…"

Dad looked at her, probably wondering how she would take it. "She was hit hard enough that her rib-cage was died quickly."

Echo didn't believe his last sentence. She had a bad memory resurfacing, a bad dream. Going to her fathers, terrified. Then a scream ripping through the house and all of them sleeping in their fathers' bed. "I…I had a dream about it…didn't I?"

Papa squeezed her, "I think told me the next morning that you had a nightmare that Meg had been hurt and that you couldn't help her."

She didn't know why she could remember that dream, but she did. "She…couldn't breath…"

Dad sighed, "No. And it was hard, trying to figure out what to tell you all. How to act around Travis. The funeral…that was killer." He shook his head.

Papa nodded slowly, "Especially since the morning after we found out…I looked at Ana and all of the similarities just jumped right out at me. I was afraid of taking her around Travis. Still am, even though he's made it clear that he's happy that there are other kids out there who share her traits."

"Why did you let us forget her?"

"We make mistakes, little didn't know what we were doing or how to do it. We were just happy when the tears stopped. We were in pain." Dad ran a hand over her hair. "Besides, have you ever tried explaining surrogate mothers to a six year old? It's not easy. That's why your Papa was supposed to tell you when you started learning about that stuff."

"Right, what are you going to do this mother's day when Aurora and Anastasia and Declan all ask why they don't have a mother since…you know, we're going to a mothers day party at the Jacksons…in like, a week?" Echo asked, folding her arms. Normally the twins would ask about mothers when their school did a project. They understood that they didn't really have one, but every year the questioning got more intense. And they were in fifth grade. That was when Echo learned about the reproductive system. In fact, they usually saved that for the week before mother's day.

"Oh crabcakes, I signed the permission slips for them to be in the health class." Dad said, meeting Nico's gaze. "You actually going to take care of it this time, or are we going to get called to the school again because one of our kids had an "How do I exist?" moment?"

Papa groaned, "Oh this sucks. This sucks bad." He continued on in Italian, with a few swear words mixed in.

"I think papa forgets that he taught us Italian."

Dad nodded, "He does."

Papa swore more.

"Now, seriously, about breakfast…" Dad started.

Echo nodded, "I'll get him on it. You should go check on Declan."

Dad grinned at her, and kissed her forehead before hopping up and giving Papa a kiss on the cheek, "You're the one who wanted them to learn another language."

"I'm going to wipe that grin off your face, Sunshine." Papa said through gritted teeth.

Dad just laughed.

Echo pulled at her Papa's hand, "Come on, Omelets. We're running out of time before the first of the demons awaken."

That brought a smile back to her Papa's face. He set the photo album aside (Echo made a mental note to nab that and hide it in her room so she could look at it more carefully) and followed her into the kitchen to make breakfast.

 **AN: Seriously, you have no idea how hard I had to try not to cry while writing this. I love Meg. That's why she's only dead in this series. Currently. Anyway, thanks everyone for the likes and reviews, you make my days! More Solangelo cuteness ahead, because we are doing the whole Saturday and this only goes to 8:30 a.m.**


	5. Daddy

Papa set the plate of extra bacon on the table while Echo poured Declan a glass of orange juice. "How is it?"

"Perfect Daddy!" Ana frowned, "Papa." She corrected herself, looking disappointed and affronted.

Dad looked amused.

Papa shook his head, "You guys are usually so good about that." He sat down, he looked more surprised that it didn't happen more.

"We learned that it's an important distinction." Rory had the same zombie-like look that Papa had when he first woke up. "If we didn't enforce the distinction…no one wwould ever know who was talking to who and we'd end up having to call you by your first names just to keep you straight."

"As long as we're all agreed that Father is still what we call them when aggravated with either of them." Ana clarified.

"Of course." Rory and Echo chimed at the same time.

Dad just shook his head, "I love how communicative you guys are." He sounded like he was only partially joking.

Papa looked between us girls, "What?"

"Oh come on, Papa, it's called attitude or sass, or you know, any other form of trying to aggravate the crap out of our parents." Aurora said, shrugging, "I mean, you can't honestly tell me that you never pulled the father crap on your father."

"I…what do you guys have to like agree about this kind of thing. Can't you all sass us in different ways?"

"You want us to sass you?" Declan asked, looking a little confused.

Echo was right there with him, but she hopping on the train her sisters were driving, "Okay, Papa, just remember that you asked for it." She a bite of her omelet.

Dad was staring at Papa with a look that clearly stated, "You idiot. Why did you challenge our daughters? They outnumber us, you know!" But all he said was, "Remember that he asked for it, would you please."

"Sure, Daddy."

"Yes, sir."

"No problemo, senor." Aurora saluted him.

Papa sighed, "You guys are getting smarter."

"That's what happens when you send us to school and raise us bilingually." Echo said in an undertone.

Dad made a little sound and covered his mouth.

Papa stared at her like she had dropped from Mars. "No…not you, Echo. No, you're the sweet one. You're not supposed to be snarky, your Dad doesn't have the snarky gene!"

"Yeah, I'm also the best archer in the Apollo cabin. What?" Dad shook his head at his husband.

"You know what I mean!"

"Father," Rory started, her eyes narrowed and staring at Papa, "Why would it matter that Dad doesn't have the snarky gene if you're also her father?"

Echo thought she would burst out laughing at the look of sheer terror on her Papa's face.

Her Dad did, "Oh, I am SO gone for this." He got up, laughing, "Come on, Dec, we'll go watch some Road Runner."

Declan gladly left his empty plate to follow Dad, "Girls are weird, Daddy."

"Oh," Dad nodded but obviously didn't know how to continue, "Yeah."

Echo slowly pushed back her chair as Ana and Rory stared at Papa.

"So gone for what?"

Papa slumped in his seat, "Oh this is going to…"

Echo kissed his cheek, "Good luck." Then she skipped out.

"You support is appreciated." He said sarcastically, stabbing at his omelet.

Echo giggled and sat with her Dad, watching cartoons her parents had been showing her since she was…born?

"What duet are we doing later, Larky?" Dad asked in a whisper so that they didn't disturb Declan.

Echo shrugged, "I don't know. I forgot to be thinking about it this week. Too much going on."

"Hmm," Dad grabbed the rarely used laptop from it's drawer and opening it.

Her teachers were always concerned when she said that her house didn't have Internet. It actually did, but it was so dangerous to use that most of the time they just went to the library, did their research in about ten minutes and then made themselves scarce. She still wasn't good navigating computers. She just told people that her family was a little old-fashioned. Which confused people when she also told them that she had two fathers. She wasn't sure why. Her Papa was technically from the forties. Of course, she also expected to be endlessly questioned when her Papa comes in for career day on…

"Uh, Daddy…I know Declan's tests are on Monday…"

"Yes," He urged her on.

"Monday is also Career day." She said quietly, not wanting to seem like it was a big day.

He made a clicking sound with his teeth, "Right, your Papa was presenting for you. Forgot about that.I'll remind him later." He put his feet on the coffee table. He seemed to be looking up music. He started printing something.

Echo rested her head on his arm, turning her attention to the cartoon, but distracted by Declan.

He was looking around, slowly looking more confused.

"Declan? You okay?" She asked.

He focused on her and Dad, blinked a couple times, "We're home, right?"

Echo nodded and gave him a smile, "Yeah, it's Saturday."

He blinked again, then nodded, "Right, I had orange juice with my omelet, and you cut the bacon in it into stars."

She grinned, "Right."

"Because it's the first Saturday of the month." He finished, nodding firmly and going back to his cartoons.

Echo felt her Dad relax, and realized she hadn't felt him tense up. She glanced up and could see that familiar guilt and fear that she had seen for the past two years. He had looked at her a couple times like that when she had had the cast on her leg for a few weeks after the accident. And she caught him with that look often around Declan. She remembered how she caught her Dad crying in her Papa's arms in guilt, and her Papa telling him that it wasn't his fault. That he couldn't have prevented it. Everyone was okay.

"So, why does Papa have to cover the whole…surrogate thing?"

Dad made a face, "Because it was either that or explaining the whole…puberty thing. Believe it or not, I drew the short straw."

"I believe it." Echo whispered, shaking her head a bit. That had been awful. But she could imagine it being worse if Papa had explained it all. At least Dad could put on a professional front, Papa probably would have made things even more awkward. "So, which one of you plays the overprotective parent when we start dating?"

"Um, both."

"No supportive parent?"

"Sorry, you're too important for us to risk it."

"It's not like anyone is going to try and steal me." She got up and grabbed the music Dad had printed off. "This isn't a duet."

"No, it's a song I want you to learn and play and sing for us." Dad gave her a grin.

"It's kind of ambitious."

"You'll do fine." He was printing off more music. "Besides your piano teacher said you needed some new material to learn."

Something else started printing.

"And as for the stealing you, your grandfather stole a girl. We were told not to let that happen to you. And we aren't going to let it happen to you."

She nodded a bit, "Yes, Daddy."


	6. Sister

Rory was still giving Papa looks—something akin to horror, disgust, sick fascination, and curiosity—but seemed to be taking it fine enough for them to continue with their usual Saturday traditions of sword practice in the back yard, followed by lunch, and then the music hour that Dad insisted on having, the reason Echo needed a duet for herself and him. Dad had insisted that once they turned eight they begin learning how to play an instrument. Echo had started on piano when she was younger than that. Anastasia chose the flute. Aurora chose the guitar. Declan hadn't picked an instrument yet, but considering they sometimes couldn't get him to remember that he was eight, Echo figured her fathers didn't want to push him.

Music house, by tradition, was a time for the kids to show what they had learned that week, or mastered. They would also sing a couple of other songs just for fun. Dad had started doing duets with Echo about a year ago. Echo still had to do her own song, but the duet was something she loved. She loved watching as her Papa took his seat and just listened to them, a small, amused smile on his face.

Echo had learned "I Hope you Dance". She loved had learned the piano part, and then made sure it was dramatic, adding what she needed to make it sound complete. Now, playing it for her family, she felt that familiar satisfaction. Happy that there was something she excelled at.

Declan was grinning as she finished it, "You're so good, Echo."

Echo smiled, "Thank you, Declan."

Rory shook her head, "You've got to start going last." She looked at her guitar, suddenly hesitant.

Ana nodded her agreement.

"Oh, come on, you guys will be fine. You're good too." Echo encouraged, turning on the bench to face both of them.

"You have to say that, you're our sister." Rory shook her head.

"Come on, I heard you practicing."

Rory sighed, starting to play as Dad grinned at Papa. She was playing "White Horse". She had been looking to Taylor Swift songs for actual songs with acoustic guitar, saying that it was more fun than learning a rock song on the acoustic guitar. Her voice was a little shaky when she started singing, nervous to be singing in front of all of them. She had only done it a couple she still did well, only missing a couple notes. When she finished she was red in the face, not looking up.

Papa was grinning, "That was really good, Rory."

Rory mumbled something that resembled a thanks and quickly put her guitar away, grabbing a pillow and hugging it so that her face was mostly hidden.

Ana smiled. She played the song on her flute that she had was sort of trilly and playful. She seemed like she wanted to dance.

Dad praised her playing, saying she sounded like she was having fun.

She grinned, telling them about how it was actually a slow song that she had sped up because she thought it would sound more fun.

Then Echo realized it was time for her duet with her Dad and they still didn't have a song.

Dad pulled her over to the piano, "You know "I Told You So?"

"The duet version?"

He nodded.

"Um, yeah."

He took the guitar from the case, then put some sheet music in front of her.

When they finished that, she smiled. "Why do we sing so much country?"

"I blame your grandmother. But it's also easier to learn country songs for the acoustic guitar." Dad chuckled, kissing her cheek. "Your voice gets stronger every time I hear you."

"Is it bad that I always forget we have a grandma?" Declan frowned at the floor.

Ana snorted, "I forget sometimes, Dec."

Dad and Papa exchanged a glance.

"Let's stop talking about it. Don't want to summon her." Papa said it as a joke, but we could tell he was serious.

Dad nodded, "Any more songs we want to do?"

There didn't seem to be, so music time ended a little early, and Dad and Papa went for their Saturday stroll while Echo tried to coax Rory out from behind the pillow.

"You were good, Rory." She said, tugging on the corners and such to try and pry it away from her younger sister.

"I totally messed up!"

"So did I. I mean, that duet was a totally last minute thing, I messed up in all verses and the chorus, and my harmony was way off during the bridge. You missed a couple notes, even professionals do that. Most consider hitting 90% of the notes a good performance." Echo tried to encourage her sister. "And it's just the first time you've sung for any sort of crowd. You did really well. Remember the first time I sang at school?"

Rory peeked out, "You squeaked out some song, broke down crying."

"I didn't hit any of the notes. Was I scarred for life?"

"You did it two more times, and everyone started wondering why you were always picked to sing. Then the first time Dad managed to get the time off to show up with Papa, you belted out that stupid song like it was the national anthem and you were Whitney Houston. At least, that's what Dad said. They were both super proud and all of the other parents and students were dumb-founded." Aurora wrapped her arms around Echo's arm, using it to replace the pillow.

Echo stroked Rory's black hair, "Well, wasn't that good. I was only nine. But I was so determined to do my best because Dad actually made it to the show. And Andy Brunski called me a toad, and said I was going to croak."

Ana came back in, "Are you still moping?"

Rory scowled and squeezed Echo's arm tighter.

"Anastasia, why don't you go clean your room and pick out your outfit for Monday." Echo said in a hard tone.

Ana regarded her with caution, then seemed to dance out.

Rory groaned, "Why did I have to be born with her?"

Echo just smiled, "You'll be fine. You need someone bright to bring you out of the shadows."

"Why couldn't that be you?" Rory asked, scowling at the coffee table.

"Because you like me too much, and I'm too much of a comforter. Exhibit A." Echo gestured to the fact that her sister was now basically curled up in her lap.

Rory sighed, "And someone needs to protect her."

"And someone needs to protect her." Echo agreed, kissing her temple. "You two are opposites, but complimentary of each 're the shade, she's the sunshine."

"Thanks for that picture." She sat up, "Why am I the shade?"

"Hmm, maybe because you're our shadow traveler and you have black hair and you just take after Papa." Echo pushed her sister off of her, "Now, kitten, we're going to get up and go into the kitchen and start making dinner for Papa and Dad. As a surprise."

"You think they'd like that?" Rory asked, perking up. She was a real Papa's girl. She loved it when she could make him smile.

Echo grinned, "I think they'd love that."


	7. Careless

Dad and Papa were delightfully surprised, they couldn't stop wasn't very elaborate, Echo's skills were limited, and Rory's even more. But Echo had managed to make some hamburgers, while Rory made Macaroni and Cheese, and they heated up some baked beans.

Their fathers were happy, so they felt like they had created a banquet fit for kings.

After dinner was their normal free time while Papa and Dad bickered lovingly over what movie they would watch as a family. Sometimes Echo would find an out of hte way spot where she could watch them goof around. Listen to them talk about their kids.

She knew today would probably be interesting, especially with what happened that morning. So she grabbed her blanket, her baby blanket according her fathers, and went to her usual spot as her fathers sat beside each other, looking through the DVDs.

"Echo's getting to be a real performer." Papa said, kissing Dad's neck.

Dad grinned, "Nico, come on. The kids are still around."

Papa just smiled and kept kissing Dad's neck. Echo was used to watching her fathers show affection to each other like this. It was just another thing that reminded her how lucky she was to have a family that was together. Parents that still loved each other.

Dad just relaxed, leaning slightly on Papa. "We're so lucky, I mean, our kids are just so skilled and good. I mean, when I was Echo's age, I was a mess."

"Your mom didn't take care of you." Papa growled, arms going around Dad.

"Yes, she did." Dad flinched away from Papa as he responded softly.

"Not the way she should have," Papa pulled him back close, "You deserved so much better than what you 're raising our kids with what we lacked. We've always said that."

Dad nodded slowly, "I'm still worried. About raising my girls."

"Our girls."

"Our girls, I mean, when we first had them we always said that Meg would help us with the harder stuff. The stuff that we will never understand." Dad grabbed a few DVDs off the shelf and sort of looked at them.

Papa shook his head at the movies, "I know. We should have planned better, especially after she died."

"I mean, what will we do when the girls start liking people?" Dad frowned at the shelf of DVDs. "Or Declan for that matter."

"We'll do our best. Besides, I'm pretty sure Echo already has her first crush."

"No, not Echo." Dad's shoulders slumped. "Who?"

"I'm not sure, but she's already stopped talking about her friends with us."

Echo winced, deciding that she would have to act more normal. Last thing she wanted was for her fathers to find out she had a crush on Gareth Valdez.

"We've made it clear that there's no dating until they're sixteen, right?"

"Yeah, I think we beat that horse to death." Dad rubbed his neck, "There's something else we haven't talked about."

"Oh?"

"Summer."

"Were you thinking a vacation?"

Dad shook his head, "No, I was thinking that Echo is twelve. Most campers start at camp from anywhere between nine and thirteen, usually. And we always said twelve."

Papa sighed, "I know…but with Declan…what if something is seriously wrong?"

"I don't know. Table this conversation until after the tests?"

Papa nodded.

"Also, Echo's class is having Career Day on Monday. She's worried." Dad lovingly traced Papa's jawline.

Papa winced, "Oh crap. I told her I would go, didn't I?"

"Yes, and you know how important our support is." Dad almost cooed.

"That means I have to interact with other parents, deal with the fact that I'm gay, try not to embarrass our daughter, and miss being there for Declan."

"I have the time off for the tests, Declan will be fine. They're non-invasive tests, and I can tell you how they go. This is important to Echo."

Papa still looked reluctant, "Are you sure you don't want to do it instead and I can be with Declan for the tests?"

Echo dropped her gaze to her hands.

"Nico," Dad said reproachfully.

"You know I suck monumentally at being sensitive to other peoples kids, and I hate interacting with the other parents at this school."

Echo had heard enough, she got up to go to her room.

"Besides, you're her full dad. I'm just her adopted one."

Echo froze, hugging herself.

"Nico!" There was the sound of someone falling.

"I was joking! Mostly, sort of. I mean, technically it's true. Of course I'll go to her career day."

Echo couldn't help it she stepped out, "I don't want you to!"

Both of her fathers looked at her, startled, and looking like deer in the headlights.

"E-echo?" Papa looked horrified.

She was almost in tears, "You obviously don't want to go, so I don't want you! Either of you!" She fled to her room, closing the door and pulling the dresser in front of it. She then climbed out the window with her bow and sword and ran down the street, jumping the fence, tossing a stone at Gareth's bedroom window and then climbing into the fort.

Gareth was out a few moments later, "Hey, what are you doing here? It's Saturday, isn't this a big family day for…you…are crying, why? What's wrong?" He quickly sat next to her and put an arm around.

"I'm overreacting. I know I'm overreacting, but…" She covered her face with her hands as the tears started slipping out, "How could he say that?"

Gareth rubbed her back, not saying anything since he probably still had no idea what was going on.

"How could he say he wasn't my father?" She managed to choke out.

Gareth froze momentarily, "Who?"

"Papa…Nico." She wiped at her face, "Am I not good enough, or something?"

"E-echo, that's crazy…"

"Then why do I always feel like I'm not good enough? Why do I always feel like I'm last? I just wanted him to show up for my stupid career day!"

Gareth pulled her into a real hug, "Shhh, you're not last. You are more than good …shh."

She cried into him for a while, losing track of time. She knew she was overreacting. She felt ridiculous. But it just…stung. She couldn't stand it. "I've been trying so hard to be helpful, to do a good job and help take care of my siblings. I've tried to take up as little of their time as possible so that they have more time to take care of everything else. And I'm still not good enough! I'm never good enough."

Finally, Gareth picked her up and carried her out, muttering something about not being equipped for this.

She hiccuped and told him she was fine, to just put her down, she would go home.

He didn't listen to her.

Calypso was on the phone, but she looked at them with relief, "It's okay, she's here. Bye." She hung up.

Leo was already coming over, taking me from Gareth, "Hey, alondra, cariño." He said softly, setting me down on the couch between himself and Calypso.

"Honey, your fathers are worried sick about you! And you should have told us she was here!" Calypso scolded Gareth.

"Sí, mamá, pero estaba un poco ocupado." Gareth responded, sitting at her feet and taking Echo's hand. "Ella dice que no siente que nunca será lo suficientemente bueno para sus padres. Dice que siente que es la última de la que cuidan."

Echo knew they were talking about her, but she didn't care, she just cried. She couldn't stop herself, despite how ridiculous she felt.

Leo hugged her tightly, "Oh, Echo."

Calypso pulled the girl into her arms, "Come here, sweetheart. I know it's been rough for you, the past few months."

Echo tried to let them comfort her, but she just…she felt like she had been hit with a sword and that it had cut to the bone.

She wasn't surprised when her fathers were let in by Leo, and both of them came over, trying to talk to her. To get her to talk to them. And she knew it was petty.

But she refused to talk to them, even when she finally agreed to go only went because of Declan. She couldn't even look at her fathers without tearing couldn't listen to them. They tried to talk to her as they walked home, but she ran home and locked herself in her room, ignoring her sisters as they tried to check on her.

Ignoring her Dad when he tried to get her to come out for the movie.

"Echo?" Her Papa pleaded at the door, "Echo, please? Just let me talk to you…"

She blared her music. Then curled up on her bed and tried to shut out the world.

 **Spanish Translation:**

 **Leo: Lark, sweetie/honey.**

 **Gareth: Yes, Mom, but I was a little busy. She says she does not feel like she'll ever be good enough for her parents. She says she feels like the last one they care for.**


	8. Stoll

Echo woke up and realized that one of her fathers must have come in and covered her up. She sighed, grabbing the stuffed dog she'd had since she was a baby. She hugged it to herself. She knew she had overreacted to what she heard. But she also knew that she did feel hurt. She had been trying so hard to be the best daughter they could have, she had straight A's. She took care of her siblings, especially Declan. She knew that Papa wasn't biologically related to her, they had told her as much. But for him to say that, trying to get out of a school event for her…

She would have understood if he had just…said it differently. But no, he brought up that he wasn't actually her father.

"I'm going to shadow travel in there."

"No, you're not. That would just make things worse." Dad said firmly.

"You heard what Leo said. We have to talk to her."

"So, knock." Dad said.

There was silence for a moment.

"What if she hates me?" It was barely whispered. Shaky and desperate.

Echo hugged her dog, then got up and went over to the door. She hesitated, then opened the door.

Her fathers stood in front of her, Papa closest and looking devastated.

Dad's shoulders relaxed as he saw her.

"Echo," Papa reached out and gently cupped her face in his hand.

She allowed it, "Why am I not good enough for you?"

Papa's eyes widened, "Echo, you're more than I deserve.I didn't mean what I said yesterday, you're my daughter by all rights. You don't have to do anything for our love." He told her, meeting her eyes.

Echo looked at the floor, biting her lip.

"Echo, we know we haven't been taking care of you as much lately. You've helping us so much that sometimes we forget that you need us too." Dad stepped around Papa to put an arm around her. "But it was never our intention to make you feel like you needed to earn our love, or to neglect you. You're our daughter. Our oldest, and I'm sorry. That means that you're going to bear the brunt of our ignorance and experiments, we're still learning."

Echo nodded slightly.

"We love you, more than words can express." Papa said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "And we're really happy that you didn't run far."

Echo smiled a bit.

"Yeah, if you're going to run again, please continue running to friends houses so that you're safe. That's very important to us. Your safety."

She rolled her eyes a bit, "I gathered."

The doorbell rang.

She glanced at both of them as they glanced at each other.

"Time to get dressed!" Dad hollered, then ran to get the door since he actually was dressed.

Papa ran to his room.

Echo quickly closed her door and changed, then brushed her hair and went out.

"Uncle Travis!" She exclaimed upon seeing him, then hurried over to give him a hug.

He gave her a tight hug, grinning at her, "Hey, Echo Lark. How are you?"

"I'm good, I'm so happy to see you! And Riley!" She turned to the small boy.

He grinned at her, his blue eyes bright and excited, "Hi!"

She hugged him, "Hi, Riley. How's your knee?"

He scrunched up his nose, "It hurts. But I'm okay!" He finished with a grin.

Echo realized that he actually looked kind of like Declan. He had lighter brown hair, and it was slightly curly. He had completely blue eyes instead of brown with blue flecks. His smile was a little crooked and his skintone a little more pink than the yellowish tone of Declan, but otherwise they could definitely be said to be related if they were to be seen together.

Travis ruffled Riley's hair, "He's been a was so bummed about seeing everyone that we're making the rounds and since I knew that you guys are pretty much always home on Sunday, I thought we'd start here."

Dad just grinned, "We're glad you could stop by, we were just saying a couple days ago that it had been ages."

Rory came racing out, "Uncle Travis!"

He caught her, and hugged her, "Aurora, reckless as ever, I see."

"It's not reckless, it's determined." Rory grinned.

Ana came out, walking like a civilized person, "Hi, Uncle Travis."

He looked at her, and surprise crossed his face as he flinched slightly. "Hi, Ana…wow, you…look like…wow." He was still smiling, and he hugged her, still unable to complete the thought.

She looked a little confused, but didn't really question it.

"Mom, she looks like mom!" Riley grinned, "That's cool!"

Travis looked at his son and grinned, "Yeah, that is cool."

Ana just smiled and shrugged.

Echo looked toward the hallway, wondering what was taking Papa and Declan.

Papa came out, "Stoll, ever hear of calling ahead?"

"Yeah, I've heard about it. Always forget to do it, though." Travis shrugged, a mischievous smile on his face now.

Echo slipped away to check on Declan, pulling him out, reminding him that he liked Uncle Travis.

"Hey, there's Declan! How are you, little Dude?"

Declan stared at him, then looked at Echo, "You're sure we know him?"

"Since birth." Echo nodded, giving him a little shove.

Travis squatted so he was more on Declan's level, "Don't remember me?"

Declan slowly shook his head.

"Ah, that's okay. Sometimes the mind can be a tricky thing." Travis offered his hand for a high five.

Declan hesitated, then gave him one.

"Come and sit down, how's work been?"

"Ugh, it's so time consuming. And this traveling is getting on my nerves. They're looking for a replacement for me which would be nice. But…" Travis sighed, sitting down, "I miss teaching. I miss having students and helping them learn things. I miss having time to see my family and friends. I can't even remember why I took this job."

"The travel, as I recall." Dad grinned.

Echo helped Riley over to the living room, basically carrying him. She didn't mind. He was a small kid. Thin as a rail. Must have been a Stoll trait.

"Yeah, well, I miss teaching." Travis shook his head, then smiled at Echo, "Thanks for helping him."

"No problem, he's a small fry." She said lovingly.

Riley folded his arms, "I am deeply offended!"

"You're seven, it's only natural that you're small. You seem to be very tall for your age. You're the same height as Declan."

Riley grinned easily, "I was only joking."

"Okay," Echo laughed, then took a seat with Declan. "You were a teacher, Uncle Travis?"

He nodded, smiling, "Yeah, I taught elementary students. Then middle school. That was my favorite.I guess cause I was used to middle school aged kids at camp. I was making good progress with changing the program at the school, help kids with dyslexia and ADHD."

"Students were upset when he took the job at the university." Papa smirked at Travis.

"So, why don't you go back to teaching?"

Travis shrugged, "I might, I'm mostly waiting for them to find a replacement for me so I can actually consider my options."

"Where would you want to teach?"

He shrugged, "Don't know. I guess we'll see where life takes us." He ruffled Riley's hair lovingly.

Riley looked up at him with a grin, "Maybe by Uncle Connor and Aunt Katie? Or here! By everyone else!" He bounced a bit.

Travis just grinned at him, "Maybe."

Dad nodded, "It'll be good for you guys to settle somewhere. You've seemed restless for a while now. Unsatisfied. And your blood pressure is high."

Travis groaned, "I forgot he was a relentless doctor."

Papa grinned, "He's always right about the medical stuff, though."

"True, very true.I'm working on it. Maybe try yoga or something." Travis made a face.

"Or see if a change in job does the trick." Dad said, smiling. "You might have to light a fire under your superiors to find a replacement."

Travis nodded, "Yeah. How are you kids doing in school?"

Rory groaned, "It sucks, I mean, math moves so slowly! And science is too easy."

Ana blinked, "English moves too slowly and history is too easy."

"Gym is pretty good."

"Music better." Ana finished. "But—"

"Otherwise, school is—"

"Really good."

Travis shook his head, "Still weird when you do that. What about you, Echo?"

"Really well, I'm passing with flying colors." Echo responded, hugging Declan. She shrugged, "Mundane, really."

He smiled, "You work hard, then?"

Echo shrugged again, "I have to, its hard with dyslexia, but I try to make it work."

"Yeah, I know how hard that is." Travis said, understanding.

Riley bounced some more, "I hate math."

"Easy on your knee, kid. Besides, you hardly focus on your math." Travis chuckled, flashing a grin at Echo's fathers.

Riley went still, tapping his fingers on the floor instead, "It's so boring!"

Travis shook his head.

Declan looked up at Echo, "Can I go play?"

Echo glanced at the adults, then at her siblings and Riley, "You guys want to do a puzzle?"

Riley's eyes lit up.

Declan smiled, "I like puzzles!"

Rory and Ana nodded, "We'll go grab the new one." They said in sync, then gave each other dirty looks that screamed at each other to stop saying what the other was did that every once in a while. They never really noticed when they finished each others' sentences, but when they spoke the same thing at the same time, they hated it.

Echo waved them both off, "Go get the puzzle." She got Declan up, then helped Riley up and over to her room where they would work on it. She had known it would be a good choice. She knew Riley and Travis worked on puzzles all the time, ever since Riley was because of Riley's knee, he wouldn't feel left out. Declan liked puzzles because it was okay if he didn't remember. He could always figure it out. Rory and Ana didn't feel as much like kids and Echo could have some peace and quiet.

Riley smiled at her as she helped him, "What's it like having siblings?"

She looked back at him, smiling, "Never boring." The way he was looking at her reminded her of Declan again. And the fact that they had the same mom. She wondered if Travis would ever tell Riley.

Riley tugged on her shirt, stopping her, "Daddy says that we have the same mom."

Echo felt surprised, "Um…yeah, we do. She had me and my siblings for my fathers."

Riley grinned at her, "So…we're technically siblings, right?"

"Yeah, I guess we are." She kissed his cheek, "But, Declan doesn't know yet."

Riley nodded, "Okay, I won't say anything." He hugged her briefly, then they continued into Echo's room and sat down.

The twins came with a puzzle, and they started working on it together. Five siblings.


	9. Declan

Riley was seriously good at puzzles. He did half of it himself, handing pieces to them when he couldn't reach.

They actually finished the puzzle before lunch.

Papa stood in the door, "Hey, lunch is ready. Wash up." He came over to grab Riley.

They all hopped up and hurried to get to the table.

Travis must have grilled, because there were steaks and grilled veggies.

Not that Dad did and Papa didn't grill every once in a while,they just weren't nearly as good as Uncle Travis. When we came in, Dad and Travis were talking about something that happened at Camp when they were teens. They were laughing.

Echo took a seat next to Riley, still turning the idea that he was technically her half-brother over in her head. She liked it. She liked that she had more family, especially when that family was as sweet and cheerful as Riley.

Once they were all seated and eating, the stories started back up again. Some of them Echo had heard before, the one about when her Papa first came to camp. Some of the trouble her Dad and Travis had gotten into together. Vague references to people that Echo had no memories of, sorrow over other people whose names she did recognize.

"Man, time flies so fast." Travis finally said, leaning back and shaking his head. This his gaze sharpened, "I almost forgot. I found a video…" He hesitated, glancing at Echo's younger siblings.

Rory and Ana exchanged a glance.

Declan wasn't even listening. He had a vacant look on his face.

"Of…Megara. And the one of your wedding." Travis finished carefully, still studying Declan.

Dad was watching Dec, too. "Oh, forgot that you had the video of our wedding." He said, distracted.

Echo lightly kicked Declans foot under the table, "Dec?"

He didn't respond, just stared at the table with the same blank look.

Then he twitched, and his head slammed down on the table.

Dad grabbed him and pulled him away from the table as he continued thrashing. Dad was muttering something trying to hold Declan.

Papa grabbed keys, "We're taking him in." He said with a shaky voice.

Dad nodded, managing to get a good grip on him.

Travis hopped up and followed them out, telling the kids to stay put.

Echo steadied her hands and rubbed Riley's back, "It's okay. Everything will be fine." She told her sisters and Riley. "You know Dad will make sure he's fine."

Rory nodded, holding onto an uncertain Ana.

Travis came back in, "Come on, why don't we watch a movie. Your fathers will call us when they get there, and keep us updated on how he is." He said in a calm voice, gently guiding the girls into the living room, and then making sure Echo was following with Riley. He gave Echo a reassuring nod.

They allowed themselves to be distracted by him, watching a movie, only allowing themselves to remember what was going on when he received the phone calls telling us that they were at the hospital, and one brief update on Declan's condition, the latter of which let them know that he was conscious but had a lot of tests he was going to be put through.

Neither of their fathers came home that night, calling Travis at around eight to say that Declan was okay, but that they were still doing tests and they couldn't leave him and asking Travis to stay with us. Travis reassured them that everything was fine here, and of course he'd stay with the kids.

He made sure they got to bed on time, knowing the next day was a school day. He talked with the twins briefly, then came to check on Echo. "Are you alright?"

Echo took a deep breath, "I'm trying to be. But I'm worried. Those stupid doctors should have taken his condition more seriously." She hugged her knees. "Dad and Papa have been trying to get people to run tests for over a month now. Dad had to call in a bunch of different favors just to get the tests tomorrow scheduled. And now Declan is in the hospital, and I know that things aren't okay. I just…I know." She shook her head, then rested it on her knees.

Travis sat on the edge of her bed, "Tell me how you know." He said gently.

"You're too calm. The calls had too much time in between them. They're still doing tests so they don't know what's wrong. And Dad talked with you last, because Papa couldn't give any reassuring news. Rory looked like she was going to faint just after Dad carried Declan out and…" Echo closed her eyes, "I can't sense him. I've always been able to sense him, no matter where he was. Same with the girls. But…nothing. There's nothing."

Travis gently wiped her tears away, looking thoughtful, but sad, "When did you stop sensing him?"

Echo sniffed, trying to keep calm and think, "Not long after the second call."

Travis closed his eyes and shook his head, turning his gaze to his hands as he reopened his eyes. "Wow."

"Wow?" Echo asked, losing the fight to hold back a sob.

He rubbed his forehead, "Echo…not long after that second call…Declan had another seizure."

She felt her breath catch. She knew the rest of what he was going to say wasn't going to be good. She could feel the well of tears about to overflow, the sobs she would have to keep quiet to protect her sisters pushing against her throat.

He met her gaze. He was trying to be gentle, "Declan is in a coma. He's unresponsive."

Echo covered her mouth and allowed him to hold her as those sobs escaped,and the tears poured out like the rain that started outside.


	10. School

Echo woke up the next day, knowing she would need to put on a brave face for her sisters. Lead the march to school. It would be better than sitting around and waiting for some sort of good news that wasn't likely to come. She helped Travis make breakfast, allowing him to comfort her a little, and giving her a small update.

It wasn't until she got to school that she remembered that it was career day today. All of the kids at school had a parent with them. Except her.

She found her locker and dumped her extra textbooks.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Gareth appeared at her shoulder. A couple of his classmates were waiting a few feet away.

She shrugged, "I'll be better when he is. It's just a good thing Travis was visiting when it happened. If I had had to watch my sisters alone, I would have freaked out. Even if it had just been for a couple minutes."

He nodded, "I'll come after school, try to help distract Mom said she would be taking some food over to your house for dinner."

She gave him a half-hug, noticing that his friends rolled their eyes or smirked. "Thanks, Gar, I'll see you later."

"I'll walk you to class," He said.

She shook her head, "It's fine. You stay with your friends. I've got this." She walked away from him, ignoring the sad look he gave her, but catching the sharp one he gave his classmates.

She reached homeroom and went to her desk, ignoring the looks of the other students and parents as she sat and got her notebook out.

Her teacher, Miss Madden, came over, "Echo, is your father coming?"

Echo looked up and shrugged, "I don't know. It's not likely. My brother is in the hospital, he was having seizures."

She nodded, understanding filling her eyes, "Alright, let me know if you need to leave."

"Thanks, Miss Madden." Echo loved her homeroom teacher. She was a kind woman, and a good teacher. She never bat an eye when she had met Echo's fathers at the parent-teacher conferences.

"Hey, blonde wad, where's your father? Too disappointed that he had a daughter instead of a gay son?" Ross Twitmeyer sneered.

His father looked away.

Echo just rolled her eyes, "Oh,please, you're more gay than both of my fathers combined, you Twit." She responded, then felt her own eyes widen. She never deigned his insults with a response. But to do it while surrounded by parents, classmates, and her teacher, and loud enough for everyone to hear…

There were some responses from some of the other guys in our class, the usual "Buuuurrrrnnn" and "oooh".

"You little bitch!" Ross lunged at her.

She reacted without thinking, grabbing her textbook and using it as a shield so that he flew face first into it and fell to the ground.

Then the classroom erupted into chaos.

Echo stared in horror as Ross bled on the floor, his nose visibly broken, dazed.

Ms. Madden didn't seem to know how to react, but Mr. Twitmeyer was yelling and insisting that I get sent to the principal's office.

Finally, Ms. Madden managed to restore order, saying she was not going to send me to the principals office for defending myself, but that should would send Ross if he didn't learn to keep his mouth shut and stop bullying other students. This made her Echo's favorite teacher.

And put a target on Echo's back.

By the time lunch period hit, she was pretty sure Ross had half of the students behind him to get back at her.

At lunch, Ross kept looking over at her and snickering with his friends while the parents remained noticing.

It wasn't until she went back to her locker that she realized why. It was seriously vandalized. Obscene words written in permanent marker, and sticky notes calling her names, saying she should die. That she was dead meat. That nobody liked her. Asked if she was going to cry. Called her family names. Said that they hoped her family died so that the world would be cleansed.

She stood, staring at it it.

"What the hell is that?" A voice said beside her.

She jumped, and looked up at her Papa, who had a death glare on as he looked at the locker. She looked back at it, "Somebody thought it would bug me."

Papa fiercely took her hand and pulled her toward the Principal's office. He was waved through, and he told Echo to wait with the secretary. He was yelling now.

Then he was leading the principal to Echo's locker with her trailing behind.

Gareth was at it, looking furious, he met Echo's gaze, "Who?"

The Principal took it in, glancing over the locker, then taking a picture and looking at Echo for a response as well.

She didn't want to answer, knowing it would mean being completely outcast, "I don't have any proof." She said, trying to be logical.

The principal's gaze softened, "You know who's behind it, though?"

Echo nodded, "Ross Twitmeyer. He insulted me earlier, and I snapped. Then accidentally broke his nose with my textbook when he lunged at me."

"We'll keep an eye on this, if he does anything else, you tell your teacher or me. Okay?" The Principal said.

Echo nodded again, gaze on the floor.

He said something more to her Papa, then left.

Gareth was ripping the papers off of my locker.

"It's fine, Gareth. I'll get it after school. You should get to your own class."

He glared at the papers on the floor, "It's not fine." He ranted a bit in Spanish.

Papa just patted his shoulder, "Go, Gareth. You can help us later." He gently propelled Echo toward her classroom.

Gareth nodded, then fixed a look on Echo, "You better not let el gilipollas push you around."

"Why do I get the distinct feeling that those were words your mother would wash your mouth out with soap for?" Echo responded, leading Papa into her classroom.

Papa followed her silently, nodding firmly at Ms. Madden before taking the seat beside Echo's desk.

Ross sneered at her.

She rolled her eyes and tried to pay attention as one of the mothers talked about being a secretary. It was dull. Very dull.

She noticed that Papa wasn't listening, his gaze flicking around the room as his knee bounced. He then grew still, eyes narrowing as he seemed to focus on the board. He leaned over to her, "When did you become top student in your class?" He barely breathed.

She quickly counted, then wrote three weeks on her notebook.

He stared for a moment, deciphering, then nodded sharply, squeezing her hand briefly and then going back to being distracted.

Finally the secretary finished her monotone description of being a secretary and sat back down with her daughter.

"Mr. Solace, would you like to go next."

Papa took a moment to realized that she was talking to him, "Oh, um, sure." He grabbed his backpack and went down. "Um, hi, I'm Echo's father—"

There were snorts and whispers.

His gaze locked onto someone, "Nico Solace. I work as an illustrator for the popular teen series by Cassandra Dellaro, Breckenridge Burning. Most of my work is done from home, after reading scenes and descriptions of what they want, and then sending preliminary sketches so that they can choose what they want. Then I finish the pictures, either by cleaning it up and adding details, or by adding color." He was pulling out some of the illustrations he had done and the books he had done illustrations for. "I also recently began doing the artwork for a series called "The Sinking Ships Club" as they prepare to re-release the first couple of books and a fourth book in the series."

Someone had gasped in recognition when he said that last series. And most of her classmates knew Cassie's series and were devoted fans. She knew for a fact that at least seven of them were writing fan fiction base on the Breckenridge Burning books.

He talked for a good half hour and then Ms. Madden opened the floor for questions.

"Who did you and your gay boyfriend steal from to have kids?" One of the guys in the back asked, inciting snickers.

Echo glared at her desk, her hands forming fists.

Papa was quiet, "Echo is my husband's daughter, and my adopted daughter. Which is hardly the topic at you have a problem with that, talk to your parents." He looked un-fazed, his gaze shifting to Echo.

Echo met it and then dropped her gaze back to her notebook.

One of the girls asked him how he got the job as illustrator of Cassie's books.

"I went to summer camp with her. She's one of my better friends. When her first book was being published, she asked me to do the artwork for it." He explained, "I've been her illustrator ever since."

One of the boys coughed out an insult.

Echo wished the day would be over, already. They had to sit through four more parents talking about their jobs.

As soon as the bell rang, dismissing them from class, she grabbed her stuff and hopped up, "Let's go, Papa."

He looked a little surprised and followed her out the door and into the hallway, to her locker.

Gareth was already there, tearing more of the notes and such off, while one of his friends watched.

Papa grabbed her arm, "Hey, are you okay?"

"I just want to go home, Papa." She glanced up at his face, seeing how exhausted he was. She should be grateful that he came, especially since he spent the night at the hospital. "Do we know anything more about what's wrong with Declan?"

He closed his eyes, "What has Travis told you?"

"That he had a second seizure yesterday and had been unresponsive ever since." She pulled him out of the way as more students filled the halls.

He nodded slowly, "I'll tell you when we're in the car."

She nodded and went to her locker, "I think you got all the notes, Gareth."

Gareth glared at the words that were written on there in permanent marker, "I'll figure out how to remove this."

"The Principal said that he would have the Janitor clean it off. I'm going to ask Papa to take me to visit Declan. Can you walk the twins home?" She asked, taking his wrist to get his attention.

He stopped fidgeting, his gaze shifting to her. He nodded, "Of course."

"Thanks," She opened her locker and grabbed the last of her books out of it. "See you later."

He nodded, then walked away.

She went back to her Papa, following him out to the car. "I asked Gareth to walk the twins home. Said I'd ask to go visit Declan."

Papa kissed her temple, "Do you want to go?"

She was torn, "First tell me." She got into the passenger seat.

He went around and got in, but they just sat in the vehicle. "Well…all of this is continued side effects of his brain injury. They called it a traumatic brain injury. Apparently, there was scarring on his brain…and…they think something must have aggravated it, or something just finally gave way. I don't understand all of the technical speak, but…from what I gather, his seizures are called late post-traumatic seizures. If he wakes up, he could suffer from seizures for the rest of his life. And…" He took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling of the car. "They found tumors."

Echo stared at her Papa, tears filling up her eyes in horror and fear, "Are they…" She could barely breathe.

"We don't know. They need him to wake up before they can even consider testing them for cancer." He looked close to losing it.

"Papa?"

He looked over at her.

"You know how you always tell me that sometimes we need our friends?" She shifted in her seat, trying not to cry.

He nodded.

"Melina is over there, and I don't think you should drive." Echo squeaked out.

He nodded again, then dropped his face to his hand, starting to cry.

Echo got out and went over to the high-school, heading straight for Melina.

Mel saw her, and waited for her, "Hey, I heard about Declan. Is ever—"

"Mel, um, Dad's in the car and he's way too…" Echo tried to stay calm. "Do you think you could drive us home?"

She looked over at the parking lot and nodded, "Just let me tell my mom and I'll be over." She squeezed Echo's shoulder and jogged over to the van that her mom was waiting in with Nolan.

Nolan waved, looking concerned.

Annabeth looked over, nodding and saying something to her daughter.

Echo went back towards the car. There was no way she was going to camp this summer. She couldn't leave her family. Not now.

 **AN: Hope you weren't expecting happy news...**


	11. Reality

Gareth's family came for dinner, wanting to make sure we all ate.

Travis had gone to stay with Declan, forcing Dad to come home to rest and eat and shower.

Dad and Papa were like empty shells of people. They tried to be there for the twins.

Echo did her best to make up the difference, but was truly grateful when the Valdez clan came in with a feast of comfort foods.

Echo knew Rory and Ana were aware that the situation was bad, but she could also tell that Rory was trying to stay positive to keep Ana from breaking down.

The week was difficult, especially once Dad and Papa told the twins what was going on with Declan.

School was torture, especially since she now had a target on her. She tried to avoid her tormentors, but that just seemed to bring about more tormentors. Nolan had switched his private lesson time so that he could sit with her at lunch, and that helped her feel a little better, until it put a target on him as well. She had told the principal when Ross got at her again, but with all of these new tormentors…

Before and after school, Gareth and Nolan stuck to her like glue. Mrs. Jackson gave her and her sisters and Gareth a ride home now.

But it wasn't until Saturday, when Echo woke up and went out that she realized how bad things must have been.

Cassie and Reyna were sitting on the couch, both looking worried and talking in hushed tones.

Echo stood there for a moment, realizing their husbands and kids must have been in the backyard. "What's happened?" She asked in a small voice.

They both looked over, surprised.

Calypso came in from the kitchen, "Echo, there's some breakfast in the kitchen." She said softly.

She looked at all of them, "What's going on?"

Calypso glanced at the other two, then put an arm around her, "Your fathers are in their room. You should go talk to them."

Echo looked up at Calypso, then turned back and went to her fathers room, knocking.

Papa answered, looking exhausted, "Hey Echo. Come on in."

Dad opened his arms for her, holding her. He looked half-asleep.

Papa sat down beside them and took Echo's hand. "Declan woke up."

Her gaze snapped to her Papa, "What? When?"

"Earlier this morning, about three. He was conscious, then he fell back unconscious, but he's responsive this time." Papa told her, squeezing her hand.

She didn't understand why everyone was here. "So…what's wrong?"

Dad took a deep breath, let it out shakily, "Declan is living on borrowed time. He isn't going to last much longer."

Echo felt her heart drop to her stomach. "How long?"

"A couple days, at most." Papa said, playing with the skull ring. "According to the doctors…and Chiron…Declan should have died over a year ago."

"I don't understand."

Dad squeezed her, "Um…all of the healing I've been doing for him, the…favors I've called in from my father, the nectar and ambrosia we've given him—they just forestalled the inevitable."

She remembered her Dad telling her about the Giant war. How the roman, Octavian, had died. How some deaths couldn't be prevented.

"There has to be something else we can do." She whimpered.

Papa kissed her head, "I'm sorry, Echo. We've tried everything we could, and…some things we shouldn't have."

Dad shook his head, "You shouldn't have."

"The only thing left for us to do…is s-say goodbye." Papa continued gently. "I'm sorry, Echo. Really."

Dad was crying, but obviously trying not to.

Echo took a deep breath through her nose, "Do the twins know?"

Dad shook his head, "No, not yet. I think Aurora has suspected."

Papa leaned on Echo and Dad, "They'll know something is wrong when they see everyone here."

Echo pulled away, "I'll talk to Rory. She should know before Ana."

"Echo, you don't have to tell her—"

"Yes, I do. Because it would break her to see either of you crying right now, and you can't stop. I'll talk to her. Then we'll have a plan for talking to Ana." She wiped at her eyes.

Her fathers were quiet, not saying anything.

She looked back at them, and saw the pain and sadness on their faces as they looked at her. Like what she just said was more depressing than losing their son.

She hesitated, a little frightened, "Daddy? Papa?"

Papa shook his head, "You shouldn't have to do that. You don't need to do that."

"Rory made me promise that I wouldn't let her see you two cry, not like this. Not when she needs to be able to support her twin." Echo's voice rose in volume as she grew more distressed. "Don't make me break my promise just because you're concerned about me. Yes, I'm upset. But I can tell her. Just…let me tell her."

Dad slowly nodded.

Papa tore his gaze away from her and hid his face in Dad's shoulder, "You need to rest, Will. You're exhausted."

She went towards the door.

"So are you, Nico."

"I'll be fine, sunshine. I better be ready to tell Ana."

Echo closed the door softly and grabbed a box of tissues from the bathroom, tossing it in on her bed. She then went to the twins room, sneaking in and quietly waking Rory.

Rory followed her, half-asleep, back to her room and sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on, Echo?"

Echo told her.

At the end, Rory slowly nodded, "I didn't think he would wake up."

Echo was holding her hand, "You knew he was dying, just like Papa knew and didn't want to accept it."

Rory nodded again, "I've had a bad feeling for a while now. Ana's going to be crushed, though. I've had to tell her that everything would be fine." Her voice trembled slightly.

Echo hugged her little sister, "Papa's waiting to tell her until I tell him you're okay."

Aurora took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm okay. I mean, not that I'm okay with him dying. I'm devastated. But…I can hold her up."

Echo nodded as well, "I understand."

"Echo? How are you so calm?"

Echo pulled away, shrugging slightly, "You needed me."

Rory nodded, then fixed her rich blue eyes on Echo's, "Promise me you won't bottle this in."

Echo nodded, laughing slightly, "Oh, honey, I'm going out there, I'm finding my best friend and I'm probably going to cry for a good four hours." She quickly wiped at her eyes.

Rory smiled, then got up, "I'm not looking at Papa if he's been crying."

"He has been."

She nodded and went toward her bedroom.

Echo went back to her fathers room.

Papa opened the door before she could knock, "Your dad's asleep." He kissed her forehead, hugging her tightly for a brief moment. "Rory?"

"She took it well. She's waiting for you to tell Ana."

He nodded, kissed her cheek, and went to tell her other little sister.

Echo went back out to where the mothers were sitting on the couch, looking worried and sad. She hesitated, then went into the kitchen.

Gareth was in there, coloring with Riley, Maggie, Valerie, Adrien and Meave.

Riley looked back at her, his eyes big and sad, "Echo?"

Gareth turned, then set Maggie on the bench and came over to her, hugging her and murmuring in Spanish.

Echo his her face in his shirt, trying to resist the tears, but also wanting to let the tears overtake her. Declan wasn't dead yet. There was time for mourning later.

Gareth pulled back, pushing her hair from her face, "Are you hungry?" He asked softly.

Echo wasn't sure. So she shook her head.

Riley had hopped over, catching her wrist, "Echo, I'm sorry."

Echo pulled him into a tight hug, "Don't be." She felt the tears start seeping out. He was going to be the only brother she had soon.

The house phone rang and she let go of Riley to grab it.

"Solace residence." She answered.

"Echo? It's Leo, I need to talk to your Papa."

"Okay, just a second, he's telling Ana right now."

"Ay caramba, okay, um, have him call me when he's done."

"Are you at the hospital?" She asked, hugging herself with her free arm.

"Sí, alondra."

"Is…does…" She couldn't think of the right words for what she wanted to know. "Nevermind. I'll have him call you back."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye." She hung up, then went to the fridge and got herself a glass of juice. She needed to try something.

James came in from the backyard, and caught the glass that slipped from her shaking hand, "Steady on," He said, then saw it was her, "Oh, sorry, I just…"

She shook her head, "It's fine, James, thanks for catching it. I don't think I could have handled it breaking."

He nodded, carefully handing it back to her. He carefully retreated to the living room.

Echo smiled a bit and shook her head, he was such a weird kid. But then again, his parents were a little odd. She loved Aunt Cassie and Malcolm, but they were weird. Papa called them old-fashioned, and said that they were brainy people. Echo still wanted to know what went on in James head. The only glimpses she tended to get were when he said things like he did at the part over a week ago, now. Other than that, he was one of those puzzles that should be considered silent, but very detrimental to one's health. She had seen him fight, and he was quick and smart, and ruthless if his siblings were with him.

"Echo!"

She jumped and stopped pouring, biting back the curse that she wanted to throw out there so badly. Orange juice was everywhere.

Gareth started cleaning it up with paper towels, "That was like, the third time I called your name."

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts." She grabbed paper towels and started helping.

He just nodded, understanding, then glanced around and muttered mess dissipated and all we had to do was throw out the paper towels.

Echo felt the corner of her mouth turn up, "Thanks."

He flashed her a grin, then took her paper towels and tossed them in the trash along with his.

A wail echoed through the house.

Echo shuddered and hugged herself.

Cassie came back into the kitchen with James to check on the kids, "Everything alright, don't worry." She said in a soothing voice, getting the youngest back to coloring and then coming over and putting a protective arm around Echo. "Have you eaten?"

Echo shook her head, resting her head on her aunt Cassie's shoulder briefly, then pulling away and grabbing her orange juice.

Cassie nodded approval at the glass of juice, then poked her head in the backyard before heading back to the living room. She was Anastasia's godmother, Echo knew it was hurting her to be able to do nothing at this point.

Reyna was Echo's godmother, Calypso was Aurora's, and Aunt Hazel Declan's. Her fathers had put off choosing godparents until Echo was about seven. She could remember her Papa gently explaining that they gave us godparents in case something happened to them. Had said that Declan was the youngest, so he would need their Aunt Hazel and Uncle Frank. Anastasia would do best with Aunt Cassie and Uncle Malcolm because Aunt Cassie was good at feelings and Ana had those in abundance. Aurora would go to the Valdez's house, because she would need their warmth and love. And Echo would go to Reyna or Travis, because both would make sure that she got training and was loved and cared for, but they would also make sure she saw her siblings and that there were times when she would be able to get together with her siblings.

She knew that Jason was Declan's godfather, but that it was agreed that if anything had happened Declan would go to Hazel first.

She couldn't remember if Leo was Rory's godfather, but she was willing to bet he was. She was also pretty sure that Ana had two godfathers, but she couldn't remember who they were.

Ana flew in and wrapped her arms around Echo's waist, making her spill the orange juice from the glass.

The younger girl sobbed into her shoulder, begging her to fix it and make it all better.

Echo's eyes widened, and she couldn't even hug her sister back.

The adults, Papa, and Rory all came in.

Echo couldn't even get herself to wrap her arms around her sister. She couldn't respond. She was frozen, horrified, full of despair, regret, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness. She didn't know what Ana thought she could do about it, she couldn't even heal paper cuts. Tears filled her eyes.

Aunt Cassie came over and gently pried Ana off, making soft hushing noises and murmuring words to try and comfort her, telling her it couldn't be helped. She held the weeping girl in her arms.

Papa pulled Echo into his arms. She felt hollow, but he was warm, and it seemed to try to fill that hollow feeling with comfort. She buried her face in him.


	12. Funeral

Echo held her sisters' hands tightly, staring blankly at the person who was talking to them. Some old teacher of Declans that was asking how they were.

Echo managed a mumbled reply, and then gently pulled her sisters over to the sanctuary of their friends.

Melina put an arm around Rory, and rested her head on top of hers.

Talia took Ana's other hand and led her to a chair, telling her to sit and talking with her in a soothing tone.

Gareth wrapped his arm around Echo, pulling her head to his shoulder, "It's almost time." He said softly. He knew they wanted this to be over. They couldn't bear to look at their brother's body in the coffin. He and his family had been helping them with all of the preparations, and had come with them this morning to help her fathers with her and the twins. He knew what they had gone through that morning, seeing Declan in the coffin like that. How her Dad had broken down, blaming himself, and Papa had desperately held on to her Dad unable to speak.

Rory had squeezed her eyes shut, and covered her ears.

Ana had started sobbing again.

Echo went numb, and had felt numb ever since. "I don't know half of these people." She murmured.

Gareth kissed her forehead, "Some of them probably work with your Dad. But some of them are campers. Mr. Brunner is here."

Echo turned to look, catching a glimpse of the wheelchair before turning back and resting her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes. Just one moment of peace.

"Oh, Echo,darling!" Some woman pulled her into her arms, "You poor thing! And Rory and Ana! Oh, my darlings, what you've been through?"

Echo recoiled, fighting a glare.

"Who the hell are you?" Aurora snapped, obviously done with strangers.

The woman looked surprised, "Aurora Avalon Solace, don't you know your grandmother when you see her?"

Echo arched an eyebrow, the woman had to be family to know Rory's middle name. She did look vaguely familiar.

"Are you really surprised they don't recognize the person who is never around?" Papa came over, his voice was soft.

It must be her grandmother then.

She looked back at Papa, "You have pictures, they should at least recognize me from those."

Papa didn't respond, he just knelt beside Ana, smoothing her hair and whispering to her.

Echo bit her lip, "We don't really look through photo albums very often." She said, stepping protectively in front of Rory, who looked like a cornered animal who was ready to lunge and bite. She didn't know why their grandmother had chosen now of all time to try and come back and be all loving and present.

But she saw someone she did recognize a short ways behind her.

Hades came over, he was in a suit, a respectful look on his face, but the sadness that she caught glimpses of were enough for her. "Echo, Aurora, Anastasia. Nico."

Papa stood up, his gaze on his father, "Is he…"

Hades inclined his head, "He will never know suffering." His words held meaning, and Echo was grateful for it.

Even Rory relaxed slightly, somewhat comforted.

"I am sorry that this has happened." He continued, his voice sincere, "If I could prevent any…"

Papa shook his head, "I remember. I know. Thank you, father." He inclined his head respectfully.

Hades nodded briefly, his gaze sweeping over his granddaughters and Echo, then he went back to a beautiful woman who was waiting for him. She inclined her head to Nico, who dipped his head respectfully.

"Never would have thought she'd come with him." He murmured.

Echo scanned the rest of the crowd, hoping that her grandmother had disappeared for the time being.

She saw her Dad hugging Mr. Brunner, then pulling away and nodding. Then two people that she recognized vaguely as Dad's half-siblings, Kayla and Austin, were greeting him and offering their condolences.

Aunt Hazel came over, hugging Papa, Uncle Frank checking on Ana.

Sammy and Patrick hugged Echo and then Rory.

Echo went toward the entrance when she saw Travis, dropping to hug Riley tightly.

He hugged her back, "It's okay. He's okay now." He said in a small voice, "Right?"

She nodded, "Yeah, he's okay now." She finally felt the tears hitting her eyes. The numbness wearing away.

Travis put a hand on her back, "We're moving to Westfield." He said softly, smoothing her hair.

She looked up at him, and managed a small smile, "Good." The tears slid out.

Travis pulled her up to her feet, handing her a tissue, then gently guided her to her seat up front as everyone started to settle in. Riley kissed her cheek, then went with his father to their seats.

Dad sat down beside her, taking her hand, "I'm sorry, Lark."

"Daddy?"

"I haven't been there for you girls."

"Daddy, it's okay. You've been there more than enough." She said softly.

"Are you sure you want to sing?" Dad kissed her hand.

She nodded, "He loved it when I sang."

Dad's gaze went to the ceiling, "Yes, he did."

Echo's gaze shifted to the casket, following the pattern of the shroud that all but covered Declan's body, ending at his shoulders. It was gold and black, a beautiful shroud. She almost wished they had completely covered him with it. But because of the regular mortals who had known Declan, they had his face uncovered.

The funeral began.

 **AN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.**


	13. Ross

Papa looked over at her, "Are you sure you want to go?"

"I have to, Papa. It's school. It's been over a week. We should have gone back sooner." She answered, staring at the school. She could see Nolan and Gareth waiting for her.

"Fine, but if you need me—"

"I know, Papa," She interrupted, "You're just a call away."

He kissed her cheek, "Love you, Echo."

"Love you too." She got out and went up the steps to where Nolan and Gareth were talking.

Nolan saw her first and gave her a smile, "Hey, glad you're back. It was getting lonely at lunch."

She smiled at him, "I'm sure. How bad has Ross been?"

"Oh, well, it's…not good." Nolan shrugged, "It's fine though. I'd rather they were throwing punches at me than at you right now. You shouldn't have to deal with that and…"

"It's okay, Nolan. You can mention my brother. I loved him dearly, but our time together had to end. If he had lived he would have been in more pain than anybody should be. Honestly, I'm just glad Dad is doing better. And Ana, I was worried she would be permanently broken. But she teased Rory about her outfit this morning. And she was smiling."

Gareth gave Echo a hug, "You really are a mother hen, you know."

She smiled, "I do know. I've decided to embrace it."

Nolan's grey eyes snapped toward the road, "Ross is here. We both better get to our classrooms, at least there it's safe. I'll see you at lunch, Echo." He disappeared into the school.

Gareth's caramel eyes narrowed, "Come on, I'll walk you to class."

"Don't you want to go hang out with your friends?"

"You are my friend."

"You know what I mean." She nudged him with her elbow.

He rolled his eyes, "My classmates are clueless. My friends are the people who actually know me. Who know what kind of life I lead."

"So anyone with connections to camp?"

"Si, hermana." He grinned at her, "Besides, you're practically my sister. If anyone thinks me hanging out with you is weird, just because we're in different grades, they're a little loca. We grew up with each other. To pretend we aren't friends would be like pretending the Titanic didn't sink."

"Stupid and pointless?"

"Exactly," He stopped at the door, "We walking home from school?"

She nodded, "I told Papa and Mrs. Jackson that we would be walking. Papa has to get the girls because they have dentist appointments."

He nodded, "See you around, then, Echo."

"See you, Gar."

He grinned and disappeared into the crowd.

Echo steeled herself and went into the classroom, waving to her teacher and then taking her seat. People were murmuring and glancing at her. She focused on getting her notebook and pencil out. She knew that she was in for a long day.

Especially when Ross came in and grinned maliciously.

Echo sighed to herself and waited anxiously for class to start.

"So, I heard that your brother died. Poor kid not live up to the expectation of being gay?" Ross asked, getting a little too close to her.

She glared at him, but didn't respond.

"Or did your gay parents just decide that having a son was just too tempting?"

She felt her eyes narrow, her body tense, ready to spring at him if she decided she wasn't going to take his crap.

"What? Did they threaten you? Tell you not to tell anyone? Too afraid they're going to lose the rest of their bastard kids?" His voice had lowered to a threatening whisper.

She suddenly realized that he wasn't going to back off. Ms. Madden wasn't here. The other students wouldn't intervene. He was going to do whatever he wanted, say whatever he wanted. And he wouldn't get in trouble for it because Echo was the only one who would dare say anything.

His threatening tone was sincere. The hatred she saw, pure.

"I'm pretty sure you're in her space bubble, and that you should back off." It was one of the sporty girls, stepping forward and glaring at Ross.

"I think it's none of your business." He growled, still too close.

Echo blinked, "I'm pretty sure she's right. In fact, if you don't get out of my space, I'm going to hit you where it hurts the most. Because that's one of the things my fathers taught me, how to discourage guys from getting to close."

He sneered, "Really? Little miss sunshine is going to hit me?"

"I already broke your nose once, why do you doubt that I would do it again?" Echo asked in a sweet voice. "I just buried my little brother, I'm getting a little sick of your voice, and your attempts to try and make me and my friends miserable. So, do you want to find out what I'm capable of? Because I'd really love to show you." She was getting in his face now.

He glared at her, "You can't do anything to me." He swung at her.

She caught his punch, twisting his arm as she stepped in and punched him in the diaphragm. She stepped back as clutched his stomach. "Next time, I hit you where it hurts." She sat down, acting like nothing happened as Ms. Madden came back in.

"In your seats everyone, and we'll begin."

Ross glared at her again, lip curling slightly.

She had a feeling she would regret hitting him, or not hitting him harder.


	14. Last Day

The last day of school before summer sucked. Echo knew that Ross would try and get his last revenge today. They had been going back and forth for a couple weeks now, and she had been holding her own, but she knew it would be harder today.

Finally, the bell rang.

Echo grabbed her stuff and managed to dart out before Ross could catch her. She dodged between people, quickly making her way to her locker. She got to it, unlocked it and grabbed the stuff she had already packed up, and then she darted toward the front doors. Nolan and Gareth were meeting her out front, along with Mel and her friend Linus, then they were going to get the twins and go get ice cream to celebrate.

Ross practically appeared in front of her, knocking her onto the ground. "Don't think I won't get you next year, Solace. I'm going to crush you like the puny little bitch you are."

Echo glared up at him, then kicked up.

That was all it took to get him doubled over, and she was back on her feet and out the doors. She rushed down the steps, "Nolan, Gareth, time to go!"

Then looked back at her, then saw Ross behind her and both looked a little surprised, but they jogged over to the high school with her.

When they stopped, Gareth was laughing, "I can't believe you hit him there!"

"I've been tempted all month." She folded her arms, glancing to make sure he hadn't followed.

"Tempted to do what?" Melina walked up with a tall guy, maybe a little older than Mel. Blond hair, blue eyes, sun-kissed skin.

"Kick Ross in the nether regions." Nolan told her, waving slightly to the guy, who must have been Linus.

Linus looked at Echo, "Cabin seven?"

She shrugged, "My father was in cabin seven. And you are definitely from there. Echo Solace."

"Linus Weston." He had a sort of laid-back vibe to him that Echo normally got off of her father. "I heard about what your family went through. I'm sorry."

Echo nodded, dropping her gaze for a moment, "We're working through it. I think summer will help. We're actually going on a trip for once."

Mel grinned, "Where to?"

Echo smiled, "Hawaii, which you knew, because we're going with your family."

Melina laughed, "It's going to be awesome, the sun, the surf, the relaxation…"

"Because fighting monsters on a tropical island must be more relaxing." Nolan said dryly, "I'm more excited to put off going to camp."

Mel all but gasped, looking at him like he had just tried to stab her, then checking him for a fever.

Echo gaped, "Are you kidding? I've been trying to go to camp for the past two years."

Nolan shrugged, "I just…it's kind of weird being a child of two demigods among all the regular demigods. You have to decide what cabin you're going to sleep in. Everyone has heard about our parents. There's no…peace. I can't think." He frowned at the grass.

Mel groaned, "You're telling mom and dad."

He sighed, "I know." He rolled his eyes.

"Come on, the twins are waiting for us." Gareth redirected the conversation. "Let's think about something better than y'all ditching me this summer."

Nolan flashed a smile, "Like hoping Echo and I are in the same class next year since you're going to be in high-school."

Gareth hesitated, "Why would you remind me?"

Nolan grinned, "You said something better than us ditching you this summer."

"That's not better."

"Hey, isn't that your parents, Echo?"

Echo followed Mel's gaze to the school where the twins were standing with their fathers, pointing over at their group.

Dad was grinning. Papa was smiling. Ana was had a smirk.

Echo smiled, "Yeah, that's my family."

Gareth started laughing softly, "I love how you light up when you see your family happy."

Echo felt herself blush, "It's been a while."

He just kissed her cheek and jogged the last bit to goof off with the twins for a moment before the rest of their group got there.

Nolan smirked at her.

"Shut up, Nolan." She muttered, then went and hugged her Dad.

He grinned down at her, "Hey, little Lark."

"Why aren't you at work?" She asked, grinning back, and taking one of her Papa's hands.

"Well, I took a shorter shift today. I'm looking into something." He said, somewhat vaguely, sharing an excited look with Papa.

"What?" Aurora asked, gaze curious. Then she jabbed her finger into Nolan's arm a couple times with a frustrated look.

"Can't say yet, but…it could be an interesting change. Nothing major would happen with you guys, we would never keep that from you, but it is exciting." Dad played with Ana's braid.

Ana gave him a big smile. She was humming, and she looked like she was having an excellent day.

"As long as you guys don't move. That neighborhood would suck without you." Gareth gave them a goofy grin. He had Rory in a headlock.

"And…your family keeps life…entertaining." Papa tilted his head, watching Rory as she wriggled, trying to get away.

Melina's eyes were bright, "Does this have anything to do with that plan mom is drawing up?"

"Your mom draws up plans as a hobby and for work. You'll have to be more specific." Papa shook his head. "Besides, I think we're keeping you guys from getting ice cream."

Ana bounced on her toes, "Yes!"

Dad slid his arms around Papa, "We are going to go get dinner. We'll see you guys at home."

"They're eating dinner at my house." Gareth told them.

Papa nodded, "Let go of me, sunshine. You look like a dork." He swatted at Dad's face.

"I know you love it." Dad said, shrugging and letting go, "Besides, it makes you look adorkable." He walked away confidently.

Papa glared at the ground, "How does he still manage to do this to me?" He asked no one, then looked up, "Will, wait!" He ran after Dad.

Rory shook her head, "We're sure they're married?"

"They have pictures, videos, and papers to prove it." Echo said rolling her eyes, "And Melina was the flower girl."

Melina nodded, "I was. My dad still has the picture to remind herself of when I would only wear dresses. Apparently, he was very upset when his little girl stopped wanting to dress like a princess and instead started raging around like a warrior."

Ana shook her head, "Have you ever been shopping with two fathers?"

"And forget the gay part for a while, because they're the straightest gay people I've ever met." Gareth put in, shaking his head.

Echo rolled her eyes.

Melina made a face, "That's…really rough. How are you guys clothes so well?"

"She won't let me leave the house in an oversize t-shirt and jeans." Aurora grumbled, jabbing her thumb in Ana's direction.

Ana shrugged, "We live in yours and Talia's hand-me-downs."

"Right…" Melina shook her head,then gestured to Rory, "I should know that considering that used to be my t-shirt."

Rory smirked, "You're the only person I get cool clothes from."

"Hey, I'm standing right here." Echo objected.

Rory glanced at her, "I get pretty clothes from you. You're all sweetness and light and comfort. You're like a small adult."

"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or an insult." Echo frowned.

Ana took her hand, "You know we love you."

"Now it really feels like an insult." Echo let go of Ana's hand.

Rory gave Ana a glare, "It wasn't an insult."

Echo shook her head, "Let's get ice cream before I'm tempted to asphyxiate my sisters."

Melina laughed, "Alright."


	15. Hawaii

Echo groaned and threw a beach towel at her fathers, "Stooop!"

Papa laughed, but Dad kept kissing him.

Rory came in and made a disgusted sound, "Come on! We're sharing a room! That's so gross!"

Anastasia laughed out on the balcony. "This is the best vacation ever. There are a bunch of cute boys in the pool!"

Papa pulled away at that, "Get your butt in here. You're ten. You don't need guys."

"Doesn't mean I can't appreciate them." Ana said, closing the screen again.

"You've been appreciating them every day for the past week. We only have one day left." Aurora threw her hair up in a ponytail.

"Your point being?"

"Could you not appreciate for one day?" Rory flopped onto the bed, turning the TV on.

"Off," Dad reprimanded.

Aurora turned the TV off, then turned back to bickering with her twin.

Echo rolled her eyes, turning to say something to her parents.

They were making out again.

Echo sighed and went out of the room, saying loudly that she was going to go hang out with Melina.

Melina opened the door after the first knock, "Hey, heard the twins bickering, thought you might be over soon." She was grinning.

"Yeah, and my parents are making out. I was the odd one out and I…"

Melina's grin softened to an understanding smile, "Started thinking about Declan."

Echo nodded, "He would've loved this."

Melina didn't look so sure, "Echo, he didn't like being away from home. Or the beach. You know that."

She nodded, "I do, but he would've loved some of the fun stuff we did."

Melina grinned, "Want to watch Moana with us?"

Echo laughed, "Sure. I love those old Disney movies."

"Dad voted for Lilo and Stitch, but Nolan and I convinced mom that Moana was better." She led the way to her bed, hopping on next to Nolan and patting the spot next to her.

Nolan waved. He had an icepack on his eye from getting hit by Aurora earlier when we were all at the beach. She hadn't meant to punch him, it just happened. He was pretty chill about it.

Percy and Annabeth smiled at Echo.

"Glad you could join us." Percy said, then started the movie.

Echo settled in, more distracted by everything that had happened while they were in Hawaii. She had new memories to try and overpower the old. Her Papa failing at surfing, ending up laughing in the water while Dad held him so his head was above the water. Ana getting Aurora to learn to hula dance with her and Echo. Aurora being better at Hula dancing than Ana. Their trip to the volcano. Going to the bird sanctuary.

This had been a nice change for her family. A good break. A trip away from the home where there were so memories of who they had lost. And her fathers had seemed to start trusting her to take care of herself. To be able to go places on her own as long as she was close to the hotel and had her phone. Still, it was progress. Papa and Dad had been getting a lot of relaxing and quality time in. They appeared blissfully happy right now. She knew that they were still a little depressed, but they were enjoying themselves.

Echo knew that the Jacksons had offered to take the kids places, keep an eye on them so that her fathers could have time with each other. Percy and Annabeth said that they got their time alone when their kids went to their grandmother's or when they were at camp. And they had been out to private dinners almost every night.

Melina made popcorn about halfway through.

Echo hadn't realized she had started crying during the one scene. But she suddenly realized that she hadn't stopped.

Melina handed her a tissue, "You alright?"

Echo nodded, "Yeah, I guess I'm just tired. I didn't even realize I was crying." She wiped her eyes with the tissue, shaking her head. "I'm going to head back to the room. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Alright, goodnight Echo." Her parents said.

Mel hugged her and Nolan waved.

Echo went out into the hall breathing for a moment.

"Missss, did you drop thisss?"

Echo froze, hand twitching. Her knife was back in her room. She glanced toward the monster, trying to decide how soon it would attack and what the heck she would be able to do to stop it.

It didn't appear hostile just yet. It eyed her with snakelike eyes, holding out a bracelet.

Echo looked over the bracelet, "It's my sister's." She said hesitantly.

The monster held it out to her.

Echo found herself humming nervously.

The monster tilted her head, "Missss?"

Echo stepped forward and took the bracelet.

The monster dipped her head and sort of slithered away.

Echo stared, wondering what had just happened. She backed away and then hurried to her family's room. She let herself in and made sure it was locked, the deadbolt and chain in place.

"Echo?" Her dad asked in a soft voice.

She came in, seeing the twins were asleep hugging each other on the bed. She felt her shoulders slump slightly. It was supposed to be her night on the bed. She looked over at her fathers.

They were watching her. They must have been reading, they both had books in their laps.

Echo waved a bit, "Monster just returned Ana's bracelet to me without attacking me." She whispered so that she wouldn't wake the grls.

Papa closed his book and set it aside, "Have you been crying?"

She nodded, "I think I'm just tired." She shrugged, and started getting the couch ready.

"It was your night for the bed, wasn't it?" Dad asked, glancing at the twins.

She shrugged, "It's fine."

Papa waved her over, "Come on, just this once. Cuddle with your fathers."

She rolled her eyes.

Dad got up and pulled her over, "Come on, you're getting older and we only have so many more years before you won't cuddle with us at all." He hugged her tightly, then picked her up and put her on the bed next to her Papa.

She shook her head, too tired to object.

Papa pulled her into a warm embrace, "He's right. I can't believe how quickly you're growing up."

She closed her eyes as her Dad kissed her forehead and cheeks, then wrapped his arms around her too.

"Love you, Echo Lark." Papa whispered.

"Love you." She whispered back, falling asleep.


	16. Dream

Echo dangled her feet in the water, watching her family and friends swimming. She blinked, thinking something seemed off.

The monster that had returned the bracelet came in, dipping her head to Echo.

Echo frowned, looking back to her family.

Where was Aurora?

And what was up with Nolan? He had stopped swimming, and was looking at his family with a frown.

"Mel…?" He murmured.

Echo looked around, everything was off. The sun a little too bright, the shadows a little too deep. "Nolan?"

He turned, meeting her eyes, then his eyes widened, "Echo, behind you!"

Echo turned to see a bird, then it burst into flames so bright she had to look away.

She woke with a bit of a start, then let herself calm down before she dared to even push herself up a bit and look at the clock. She had to be careful doing that since her fathers were still holding her between them. She carefully extracted herself, gently pushing her Papa toward her Dad as the latter's hand searched for the warm body that had been there.

She breathed a sigh of relief as her fathers naturally cuddled up with each other in her absence.

Aurora made an amused sound, "You're awake early."

"So are you." Echo whispered back, grabbing clothes to change into. "I have to go talk to Nolan."

"I'll come with you." Her sister said, getting up. "Beats sitting here and failing to sleep more. Though our fathers are cute together."

Echo flashed her sister an amused smile, "You and Ana were certainly cuddled up last night."

"Ana lost her bracelet."

Echo pointed to the dresser, "A monster working as a maid found it. Gave it back to me without attacking me. Not sure what's up with that."

"I think I saw the monster you're talking about. Serpentine eyes, nails a little long, but otherwise humanoid?" Aurora frowned at the mirror, "Oh, it is too early for this."

Echo muffled her laughter, "Yeah, that's sounds about right. Your description, not your statement to the mirror."

Aurora grinned wryly, "So, why are you going to talk to Nolan?"

"Why are you coming with me?"

"Um, because Dad sleeps really lightly. Besides, if we go down to the breakfast area we might actually be able to get the good muffins. And the unwatery orange juice."

Echo grinned, "Those are good incentives. I've been late to get the chocolate chip bagels every morning and I usually head down around seven-thirty." She finished changing, then let Aurora change before they grabbed the room key and headed over to the Jackson's room.

Nolan met them in the hall, "Hey, I was just coming to talk to you."

"So you did have the same dream." Echo felt relieved, "I was afraid that it had just been a dream."

Nolan shook his head, "No, I…it was real. The Phoenix was there."

Aurora glanced between them. "Catch me up."

Echo shrugged, "I had a dream, we were at the pool and then I turned around and there was a bird that burst into really bright flames."

"A Phoenix." Nolan said, shaking his head, "We should tell our parents when they wake up. I know a bit, but not enough to understand why it would appear in your dreams."

"Okay," Aurora said slowly, "Come on, we'll get food while we wait. See if we can get the raspberry muffin for Papa."

Echo nodded, "Good idea. The raspberry muffins are his favorite."

Nolan nodded, "Yeah, all the best stuff goes so quickly." He started toward the elevator. "I miss Dad's blue pancakes. I'm kind of ready to go home."

Aurora nodded, "I get it. It's been great being here, it's beautiful and all, but I'm ready to go home. I miss my bed."

Echo thought about all of the adventures they had had as a family. "It's been a good getaway for all of us. Our parents all look better rested and more relaxed."

"My mom has barely even looked at any blueprints since we got here. We'll never escape architecture conversations, but it's been nice seeing her without distractions. She's been so busy." Nolan hit the button for the first floor. He ran a hand through his hair, somehow making it look great.

Echo glanced at Aurora and noticed a knot that Aurora must have given up trying to take care of. She picked at it, trying to distract herself. "Your mom seems like the type the gets buried in her projects."

"Yeah, Dad said he started viewing distracting her as a challenge when they were teenagers. I'm kind of glad Mel and I got a balance of them. Mom can be a little too intense, Dad a little too relaxed."

"Your dad is like a Labrador retriever with a little bit of German Shepherd mixed in."

Nolan looked at Aurora, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, he's easy-going and playful, but he's also very protective of the people he cares about." She shrugged with a smirk. "Loyal to a fault."

Nolan shrugged, "That actually sounds about right. Come on, looks like they're just setting up the breakfast."

Aurora caught both of our arms, "Do you have to tell them about it while we're still here in Hawaii? Can it wait?"

Echo frowned, "Well…"

"Why?" Nolan asked, looking thoughtful.

"Well," She sighed, "Dad and Papa have been so happy, they're doing really well about Declan…and your mom is actually relaxing. It's just…how often do our parents actually get to do that?"

Echo shook her head, "Not often enough."

Nolan nodded, "It can wait. It wasn't like anyone died, right?"

"Right," Echo straightened her back, "Now come on, I see my target."

 **AN: Going to be a bit slow for a while, Finals approaching.**


	17. Promise

Papa and Dad took Echo out to dinner, just the three of them, that night.

She was wearing the music charm bracelet they had given her for her birthday last year, the cute skull earrings (that held not-so-cute magic) that she had gotten for Christmas, and the sun pendant that she'd had for who-knows-how-long. She had dressed up her blue shirt with a burgundy scarf and her nice gray jeans. She had let Ana put her hair up in a cute bun.

The restaurant was nice, had the same relaxed feel she had noticed all throughout Hawaii. But it was also one of the nice restaurants. She could tell just from the fact that Papa had freshly shaved for this outing.

Dad had flirted outright with Papa, teasing him about shaving especially for him. "You looked cute with some facial hair. You should consider growing it back." He had kissed Papa's eyebrow.

Papa had pushed him away, "Hey, we're taking Echo out, not going on a date."

Echo had smiled at the interaction. Now as she looked between her fathers, the handsomest men she knew, she couldn't help but wonder why they were taking her out to dinner. It wasn't unusual for them to take just her, or her sisters out, it just didn't happen often.

Dad tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, "You look lovely, little Lark."

"Why are we out to dinner?" Echo asked, "Especially without the twins?"

Papa took her hand, "Because we're starting realize that you're not…you're growing up. Quickly, faster than you should have what with recent events. We know that we said you would go to camp after you turned twelve. It's hard to let go, Echo. You're still our baby girl."

"I know, Papa, I will always be your baby girl to you and Dad." She smiled at her Papa.

Dad nodded, "But, we also want you to know that we do see you growing up. How responsible you've become. We are very proud of you, Echo. That's why we wanted to take you out tonight. We wanted to talk to you about…the future."

Suddenly Echo felt like she should never have agreed to this dinner. This was going to get awkward, she just knew it. They weren't good at the "you're growing up" talks.

Papa chuckled, "We've scared her."

"Oh man," Dad rubbed his neck, "It's not going to be one of _those_ kinds of talks."

"Then what sort of talk is this?" She asked hesitantly.

Papa fixed his gaze on her, "It's one where we talk about when you start dating."

Echo chewed on her lower lip, "That sounds like one of _those_ kinds of talks."

Dad shook his head, "We just want to talk to you about how proud we are. How we want you to be able to talk to us, no matter what. And that we will be here for you through everything. You're at the age when all of the half-blood stuff really comes crashing down."

"And we wanted give you this, as promise that no matter what we fight about—because I'm sure that's coming—we'll always love you and be here for you." Papa handed her a small box.

She opened the box to a ring, a very pretty one. It had a blue stone, with white gems on either side. Gold, and very simple but very pretty. She took it out, and examined it. There was an inscription in the margin, "Our love forever." She read aloud.

Dad nodded, "We didn't have good family lives. You've met my mom, you kids barely know her."

"And when you end up running all the way across the country and back because of monsters and prophecies…we want you to know that we're always with you. Plus, if you need money then you have the ring to get you home." Papa said, completely serious. "For emergencies."

Echo's breath caught, "These are real diamonds…"

Dad nodded, "And blue topaz, 18-karat rose gold. That ring was worth about $1,600. If you pawn it, you should be able to get a good price for it if you really are in an emergency situation."

Echo shook her head, "I'll remember that…"

"But most of all, it's so that wherever you go you know we love you." Papa squeezed her hand.

"And we do love you, baby girl, and we want you to be safe. But we know that we can't keep you safe. Not all the time." Dad smiled softly at her.

She slid it onto her right ring finger, "I love it. Thank you Papa, thank you Daddy."

Daddy pulled her over so he could kiss her cheek.

Papa kissed her hand, "You're our light, and we promise that you'll go to camp…just…"

"Not this year. I know, Papa. You need me to help with Ana, and Aurora now that she's…getting a little shady." She gestured.

Dad nodded, "Not just that, we…just…need our family together right now."

"We're not quite ready for our little Lark to leave the nest. We love you, and we're proud of you, and we will let you go…just…"

Echo laughed a bit, "Not yet, I get it Daddy."

Dad smiled brightly at her.

Papa looked more serious, "I have a feeling we're going to have to let you go before we're ready."

"I'll always fly home." She smiled at him.


	18. Shopping

Aurora and Anastasia's birthday was right around the bend, which meant one of the dreaded shopping trips with Echo's fathers to help them shop for Ana. Aurora was easy to shop for, her and Papa connected over a lot of things. She had a lot of his old t-shirts that she wore, ones from when he and Dad first started dating. Dad had said she could wear them as long as she wore some bright colored stuff with them as well. Her favorite pairing was a pair of mint-green skinny jeans with those black t-shirts.

Gareth was staying with the girls while they went shopping, since the girls were a little too young to be alone themselves, but old enough that they didn't want an adult watching them. Plus, Gareth was back especially for their birthday and had brought a new movie.

Echo played the piano while she waited for her fathers to finally be ready to leave, she knew they were talking over ideas about what to get the girls. But they would get ideas, actually follow those ideas for Aurora, and then throw out the ideas for Ana and end up spending the rest of the day following Echo and carefully picking things out. Half of those things were Echo's half-baked guesses, and would get returned, but her fathers usually had no idea what to get Ana.

"You're crazy!" Papa came out, shaking his head.

Echo paused, her fingers poised above the keys.

"Am not! I like it, and you know that you look good with it." Dad was laughing, "Now, relax, we need to get to the mall. Echo's been waiting for three songs, and two verses of Radioactive, which is impressive on the piano." He gave her a thumbs up.

Echo smiled, waiting for her Papa to grab the keys. They wouldn't be leaving until he did.

Papa sighed, "Are you sure I don't look ridiculous?" He looked in the mirror. He had grown something of a beard, very short, very clean. He looked good with it.

"I like it, Papa." She said, going back to playing the piano.

Aurora and Anastasia chimed their agreements.

Gareth came back in from the kitchen, "You look awesome, Mr. Solace." He agreed.

Papa nodded slowly.

Dad was leaning against the couch, "Come on, Ghost boy, I think you look handsome, the girls think you look good, even Gareth thinks you look good. Come on, we have a day of torture ahead of us."

Aurora snickered.

"Yeah, yeah, sunshine. Keep your pants on." Papa grumbled, but he also had turned a little red. "And don't call me ghost boy."

"You sure you want me to keep my pants on."

"Ew!" Aurora hid underneath a blanket.

Papa turned completely red, "You have no filter."

"Haven't ever needed one." Dad kissed Papa, his hands on Papa's hips.

Papa pulled away, "We need to go shopping." He grabbed the keys.

Echo spun away from the piano keys and grabbed her purse, "I'm ready when you two goofs are."

Dad and Papa looked over at her, a strange look on their faces.

"What?" She asked, shifting.

"You sounded like Meg just there." Papa smiled.

She smiled back, "Well, I am her daughter, right?"

Dad put an arm around her, "Yeah, you are. Let's get to the mall. We have frustration waiting for us."

Echo smiled at them. They seemed to like that she had some of her mother in here, it was kind of nice to see.

They bickered lovingly on the drive, leaving Echo to go over the list she had in her head of present ideas. She played with her earrings, thinking about what her fathers had promised to do in July. Papa was going to take her to camp, just her and him and only for two weeks.

Dad was going to be switching to a family practice, saying he needed a quieter life. Plus, of the two doctors in town, one had died, and the second had been trying to retire. Westfield was a small town, they needed at least one doctor. Dad had looked relieved just by the thought of going to something quieter. With more certain hours. He would still be working with the hospital, but he had decided that he couldn't handle being a trauma surgeon anymore. She knew that he had given a lot of careful thought to this decision. She also knew that there had been a lot of people who had begged him to continue on as a trauma surgeon.

Papa had carefully explained everything, telling them that it wouldn't involve moving.

But also that there was going to be a private school opening, part boarding school, with programs specialized for kids with ADHD, Dyslexia and a myriad of other learning disorders. Travis had designed the program, and Percy was going to be the English teacher. Papa was going to teach the art class. Evangeline Temple was going to make it safe for demigods. Malcolm Pace had been approached to teach the science classes. It was being built, and would be open in the fall. They already had eighty students, some of which were from Rome, others from Camp, and a lot of Echo's friends, her parents' friends kids. Melina, Nolan, Gareth, everyone else.

It was exciting. She couldn't wait for fall, and she was super excited for a school without Ross. Where she could see her friends every day.

It would be epic.

She just had to get through the rest of summer, figure out why she kept dreaming of the Phoenix, and get through shopping today. She had told her parents about her dream, and they hadn't seemed to have any clue either. Papa told her to pay attention, that it would become clearer with time.

She hoped he was right. She was getting a little sick of the bird appearing. She would dream of a different location each night, most she didn't recognize anymore. A forest, a desert, a river, different towns…and she was always running in these dreams. There were other people with her, she was taking care of someone and another person was helping her. Then she would turn to look for their next destination and the Phoenix would be there, blinding her and waking her up.

Nolan had said he hadn't had any further dreams since Hawaii. Said it must have been a coincidence that he dreamed with her.

She hoped that her dreams were just that, dreams.


	19. Change

Melina grinned at Echo, Nolan, and Mercury, "How was your first day?"

Echo just grinned back. She had never loved school so much. Being with her friends, the specialized lessons, the good lunches…it was all perfect. Plus they were all demigods or related to demigods, so everyone related to monster problems.

Mercury sighed happily, "This is so cool. I mean, I miss my parents, but getting to be here with everyone is awesome. And I don't have to try and explain that I'm dyslexic to all of my teachers, again."

Melina nodded, "Right? Especially when you get good grades because then they don't believe you."

Gareth jogged over, "Echo, I told your father I'd walk you and the twins home."

"Alright, I'm coming." She quickly hugged Mel, "See you guys tomorrow!"

"See you!" Mel turned back to talking to Linus.

Echo followed Gareth to the sidewalk. It was the perfect first day back to school, especially after such a long summer. She would have sword lessons on Tuesdays after normal classes. Archery on Wednesdays. Her summer had been wonderful—Hawaii, the twins' birthday, her trip to Camp with her Papa. It had all been picture perfect, though it felt like all the pictures were missing something. Someone.

"Hey, can we stop by Dad's practice on the way?" Ana asked, grinning, "We made candy in our culinary class."

Aurora smirked, getting a sort of devilish look, "Mine blew up."

Echo shook her head, "That makes you way too happy."

Ana rolled her eyes, "Well,mine turned out. I want to take some to Dad."

"I think he'd like that. And it is on our way." Echo looked at Gareth to confirm.

Gareth shrugged, "Sure, as long as I can taste it."

Ana pulled out a bag and offered it to him.

He pulled out some bright red candies and popped one in his mouth. "Mmm, cherry."

Ana made a face, "You sure they're good?"

He laughed, "Ana, it's great. Seriously, you could sell these."

Ana grinned, "Thank you."

"Come on, at this rate we'll never get home in time." Aurora groaned, pushing Ana a bit.

They all started walking, goofing around, talking about their classes. The teachers.

Echo had Percy for English, Mr. Pace for Chemistry, Uncle Austin for music, and then some other half-blood adults that she hadn't met until today. Papa would be her art teacher. He worked in the mornings because he liked having lunch with Dad, and then go home to work on illustrations and make dinner. It was a a woman named Emily Powers who taught the culinary classes, and she had talked at some length this Dad and Papa. She wondered if she would hear what that was about later.

"Travis and Riley are coming over tonight." Echo reminded her sisters.

Rory grinned, "I love it when Riley is over! He…" Her face fell.

"Reminds you of Declan. I get that. He reminds me of Declan too. There's definitely a resemblance." Gareth said, understanding.

We stopped at the clinic, going in. There were a couple patients in the waiting room, talking with Dad.

He glanced over and grinned, then continued his conversation with the patients.

The little girl was looking at Echo and her group with curious eyes as they settled on the other side of the room.

Echo smiled at her and waved.

The girl smiled back.

Echo could tell the girl was sick, very sick. She could also see that her Dad had done some healing on the girl, there was a sort of glow about the girl and Dad that Echo had started noticing after Dad healed people.

"Yes, they're my girls. I'm very proud of them." Dad replied to the woman, he was smiling at them.

Ana took that as her cue that it was safe to approach, "I brought some candies for you, Dad." She gave him the bag. "They're cherry."

Dad grinned, offering one to the women and tasting one himself. "Good job, Ana, they're great."

The little girl was grinning, "You made them?"

Ana nodded, "I did."

"They're really good."

Ana pulled out another bag, "Here, if your mom says its okay."

Her mom nodded, "Thank you, Doctor Solace."

"We'll see you in a couple days." He saw them out, then smiled at his kids and Gareth. "This is a welcome surprise." He tightly hugged Ana.

"Well, your clinic is on our way home, and Ana wanted to bring you those candies." Echo kissed his cheek. "And Aurora and I just love you."

Aurora nodded, "We don't need a reason."

Dad laughed, giving them all tight hugs. "You should get home. Your papa will be expecting you. Echo, can you pick up the DVD player from Gareth's dad?"

Echo nodded, "Yeah, once these two bozos are home I'll head over with Gareth."

He nodded and kissed her cheek, "Love you," he kissed Rory's cheek, "love you, and I love you." He finished by kissing Ana's cheek.

"Love you too." They chimed together, then followed Gareth out as another patient came in.

They went home.

Travis and Papa were sitting on the porch watching Riley play with a soccer ball.

Echo kissed her Papa's cheek, then caught Riley as he jumped into her arms and hugged him tightly. "Dad asked me to go get the DVD player."

Papa nodded, "Alright, I better check on dinner. You two had better go clean your room." He warned the twins.

"Daddy, can I go with Echo?" Riley asked, his eyes big and hopeful.

Travis looked at Echo to make sure she was okay with it.

She nodded.

"Alright, but you behave."

"Yes, daddy!" He gave Travis a quick hug and then took her hand and one of Gareth's.

The others went inside as Echo, Gareth and Riley walked to the Valdez' house. Riley was telling Echo about school, and that he was going to try out for the soccer team.

She was about to reply that that was awesome, when a van pulled up and a group of people in ski masks hopped out, taking Gareth by surprise with a baseball bat to the head.

"Run, Riley!" She went to pull her knife, but the people were fast.

One of them caught Riley.

Echo lashed out, managing to get out a scream before they overpowered her.

The last thing she remembered was her Papa and Travis yelling their names, and the van door closing as they sped away.


	20. Run

"Echo, are you awake?" Gareth barely breathed the words.

"Yeah," She responded after a moment. It was cold in the room, and she was shivering. She couldn't have slept if she wanted to. And since they were going to try and escape that night, she figured she had better not.

She had lost track of how long it had been, two months? Three, maybe? She had no way of keeping track. She just knew that these people were after Gareth's abilities, and the abilities they seemed to think that Echo and Riley had. They beat Gareth when any of them fought back, or resisted. They had been hunting her and Gareth for a while.

She played with her ring, "Do you think…?"

"Of course. They would never give up." Gareth rolled onto his side, facing her and Riley. "They'll search the world over before they give up on us."

Echo sighed, "If we go back now, to our families…they'll realize how much more powerful my sisters are."

Gareth nodded, "I can't put Maggie in danger."

Echo looked at Riley, her little brother. "He needs his father."

Gareth sighed, "I know. I wish I had mine right about now. He'd crack a joke."

"Normally, you would too."

She could see him smile, "At least you're still optimistic. I feel like everything that was me has been drained."

She was about to respond when she saw it. The Phoenix. Waiting for her. "Gareth…"

"Yeah?"

She hesitated, "We need to move, now. Grab Riley. I'll grab our bags." She quickly and quietly got to her feet, grabbing her shoes and their backpacks. Riley had managed to steal back the important stuff, her earrings (you never know when a single skeleton warrior could come in handy), Gareth's sword, money…

Gareth wrapped Riley in the blankets and picked him up, following her. "We said the north window."

"You have to trust me, the east window is better." She watched the Phoenix fly to a spot just within her field of vision. "Hurry."

She was hoping that what Nolan had told her was right. Phoenix was associated with sun, and symbolized time and renewal. But right now, Echo realized that it was the light in the darkness. The only ray of hope she had seen since they had been kidnapped. And she couldn't shake the dreams of following the Phoenix. She had always been on the run, but she had always found herself running toward the Phoenix.

Now, as they did their best to be absolutely quiet, she just had to hope she was right. That this was her fate, or destiny.

They didn't speak.

Gareth followed her without question. She figured he was too exhausted.

"Why east?" He finally asked when they came to rest in a forest glade.

She was putting on her shoes, "Because…" she looked at the Phoenix, perched above Gareth's head. She had realized about an hour into their escape that he couldn't see the bird. She remembered something her Dad had said about the sun one winter when she had had a bad cold. He had brought her to the window that faced east and told her stories until the sun rose. "Because sometimes the only hope we have is in a new day. Because the sun is what marks the day, and the sun rises in the east. I'm placing my hope in the east. With the sun."

Gareth nodded slowly, "Hey, if you know where we're going, I'll follow you to the Underworld and back."

"Let's not get carried away." Echo joked tentatively.

He actually smiled, "But seriously, they won't stop hunting us. Where will we go?"

Echo felt like she was being stabbed as she realized, "Anywhere. Anywhere but home. Anywhere but the camps, or the people who know us and are worried about us. They'll have people watching our homes, our friends. Everyone we love is in danger until these people stop hunting us."

Gareth looked down at Riley, "How do we tell him? How do we explain this?"

Just then, Riley started to wake up, "Gareth? Echo?"

Echo met Gareth's eyes, mouthing that she should explain.

Gareth nodded after a moment of looking conflicted.

"Hey, we were wondering when you'd wake up." She said softly, gently.

Riley looked around, "Where are we?"

"For now, we're safe. I'm not sure where exactly we are, though." Gareth told him, a calm tone to his voice.

Riley was awake now, "We're free?"

Echo went over, pulling Riley into a hug, "Sort of."

Riley was quiet, and he looked up at Echo, waiting for her to explain.

Echo sighed softly, "These people…they're dangerous. We have to keep them away from our families. They're going to be hunting us. So…we have to keep running. We can't go home, not yet."

"Oh," Riley's gaze dropped to the ground, "So…"

"So, it's going to be a while before we can get you back to your dad." Echo sort of choked on the D word. "But we're going to take care of you, okay? You're my little brother. I won't let anything happen to you, not while I'm alive to help it." It shouldn't have happened in the first place, she should have fought better, harder, faster.

She could see the same self-criticism play across Gareth's face.

Riley sniffled a bit, but wiped his eyes, "Okay. For family, we run. I'll see my dad again. I know I will."

Echo nodded, "Yeah."

"We'll make sure of it, kiddo." Gareth added, hugging both of them to him. "But we need to get moving again. Echo?"

Echo nodded grabbing her back and glancing toward the Phoenix.

It was farther away now.

"This way."


	21. Bonus

Nico stumbled into the throne room, falling to his knees before the dais. He looked like his clothes had been run through a blender. His arms were cut in several places, his knee badly skinned. He hadn't shaved in a while.

"Son?" Hades stood in shock.

Nico glared up at Persephone, "You knew."

She looked incredibly sad, "Apollo…"

"He knew too?" Nico was shaking, he wanted this anger. He needed it. He needed to be able to blame someone. Something. He needed his daughter back and he didn't care who had to yell at for help trying to find her. They had known she would be taken.

"Knew what?" Hades asked, his own temper flaring briefly.

Nico turned his pain-filled gaze to his father, "Echo has been kidnapped. And I couldn't stop it. I was too late. I've searched…and searched…and there's no trace of them anywhere."

"When?" Hades asked, though he had a feeling he knew when. Nico's shadow-traveling had suddenly increased exponentially about four months ago. Hades had figured Nico would say something about why when he came to visit eventually. But this…was not what he had expected.

Nico was trembling, "Four months ago, almost four and a half. It wasn't just her. It was Riley Stoll and Gareth Valdez as well. There's bigger search party out looking for them than there was when Percy went missing…but nothing. There's nothing. Not even whispers in the shadows, the oracles are silent, and my daughter…" His gaze dropped. He never finished the thought. He couldn't. He was in too much pain and anguish. Hadn't he and Will been through enough? Hadn't it been enough for them to lose Declan?

Declan…

Nico looked back up at Hades, "Declan?"

Hades face was grave, "He's in Elysium, as promised, and as you already know."

Nico closed his eyes. He was glad Echo hadn't shown up in the underworld, if nothing else.

"I could summon him for you."

Nico shook his head, "Too painful. Is he…is he aware?"

"Not really. Some other souls have taken him in, it's strange some of the lives they construct down here." Persephone answered, "Though, his mother recognized him."

Nico looked up, "Megara?"

Hades nodded, "She's one of the more active souls. Looks after the souls of children."

That was just like Meg. Always thinking of kids first. Even dead, she cared more than some living mothers.

Nico stood up, finally finding the strength, "You'll tell me if any of the three show up here?"

"I will." Hades inclined his head. "And I'll have my informants keep an eye out."

Nico dipped his head to his father and walked out, heading for Elysium. He couldn't bear to see his son, but there was someone else who he thought he could talk to.

Finally, he spotted her.

She looked just as he remembered her. Her hair just a little longer than a pixie, but not quite a bob. Her small frame, and small waist, her overall boyish body. She was directing a soul towards another, more aware than any of the souls surrounding her.

"Megara," He called softly.

She turned to look at him, "Nico?"

He waved for her to come over, join him by a tree. He sat down, realizing how long it had been since he walked through Elysium.

She came over, floating into pretzel style beside him on the ground, "Is this about Declan?"

"No," Nico shook his head, "He's…"

"Out of pain. Happy. At peace. Unlike a certain son of Hades that I know." She had a slight smirk. Gods he had missed that smirk.

"Echo and Riley were kidnapped." Nico said, his voice shaking, "And…Will is so broken…and so am I…"

"You're both being open and honest about it?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but…"

"Nico, she's not dead. You will see her again. Right now…" Megara's spirit flickered, "There's nothing you can do but look and wait. Take care of the twins, teach them. Get ready, go to bed, hug your husband. Sleep. Eat. Live, because we both know that eventually all of the birds will leave the nest. But I know you and Will raised her well. I know that she loves you. So, our little lark will always fly home."

Nico closed his eyes, allowing the tears to slip out. "You should have been alive for this, Meg. I miss you."

"'Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas,Layin' In The Sun, Talkin' 'Bout The Things They Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda Done...But All Those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas All Ran Away And Hid, From One Little Did.'" She quoted that poem again. "I had the privilege of being a Did. So, don't tell me what I woulda-shoulda-coulda."

Nico smiled a bit before a sob escaped, "I still miss you."

"Oh, Nico, I'm not going anywhere." She whispered, "And I always knew that what little time I did live even after Echo was born, that it would come to an end. I was lucky."

"You deserved a painless death."

"I don't remember my death." Megara said calmly, "I remember my life."

Nico looked at her again, unable to speak anymore.

She smiled at him, one of her brightest smiles, the kind that would warm him to his very bones when she was alive. So many happy memories flooded through him at the sight of that smile. Cooking with her, watching her read to the kids, her rolling her eyes and pushing him toward Will when Will was being a hopeless flirt. Talking about books. His wedding. Her wedding.

"I don't understand, though, why is this happening? Haven't we been through enough pain?" He asked, looking at his hands.

She took his hand in her ghostly one, "Oh, Nico. Didn't I tell you before I gave birth to Echo? That the greatest happiness comes after knowing the greatest pain? It is the only way that happiness can be measured. Look, you should go home. Hug the twins, kiss your husband. Just…"

Nico was afraid she would drift, spirits did that every once in a while.

But Megara leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Remember this pain, the fear and worry that you're facing. Remember how protective you were when it was just Echo. When you lost Declan. And remember that…my husband's alone."

Guilt washed over Nico. He hadn't even thought to make sure Travis wasn't killing himself trying to find Riley.

"Riley is the only child Travis has…he already lost me…" She was quiet, "I know it's a lot to ask of you, just don't forget him. Please."

Nico nodded, "Only through pain?"

"Will the happiness seem better." She said smiling. "Have I ever steered you wrong?"

Nico met her gaze, "No."

 **AN: And that's that for this story. The next story will be coming probably this weekend or next week, titled Solace Kids 2-Rory's Revenge/Echo's Song. I've decided that there will be a Nico POV, and it's going to be first person POV for the next one because I had serious trouble writing this story in third person. It worked fine for Surrogacy. I don't know why I had trouble with it. Anyway, please review, I love hearing from readers even if it's about grammatical errors or something, let me know what you want to see, I will listen take requests into consideration.**


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